States Consider Options for Young Adults in Justice System

January 2017
 
Elizabeth Cauffman, Professor of Psychology and Social Behavior, is quoted in Juvenile Justice Information
Exchange, explaining why young adults have a range of needs that have to be considered when reforming the
youth criminal justice system. Due to a young adult's prematurely developed brain, their needs can drastically vary from person to person
 
From Juvenile Justice Information Exchange:
 
Discussions about tackling the young adult population draw on the fields of adolescent brain science and
psychology. Scientists have shown teenagers have less control of their emotions and are more willing to take risks, findings that have propelled the
idea that “kids are different” when it comes to their culpability for crime and potential for rehabilitation.
 
“Adolescents just aren’t as good as adults at putting on the brake,” said Elizabeth Cauffman, a professor of psychology and social behavior at the University of California-Irvine.
 

 

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