Adolescence
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Adolescence
Are adolescents different from adults in ways that require different treatment under the law?
Adolescents are different from adults in ways that require different treatment under the law. Although the brain of a 16-year-old adolescent is similar to that of an adult in term of intellectual ability, psychosocially their brains are not fully developed. Psychosocial development is a continuous process that goes through adolescence into early adulthood. That implies that although cognitively adolescents know as adults, emotionally they cannot control themselves fully. Self-control is, therefore, a continuous process during adolescence, which means even though they are to do stupid things most of them grow up and finally out of such behavior. That demands the law to consider the science of brain development and incorporate it into the justice system. It is wrong to treat adolescents as mature adults since they are not.
If so, what developmental factors should you consider?
It is paramount to consider developmental factors such as brain development especially the frontal part of the brain located behind the forehead. As the teen grows up the cortical and subcortical regions of the brain connects more thus allowing the teen to self-regulate themselves. Different factors such as social, one's genetic make-up as well as environmental conditions form a complex interplay with development from the fetal stage through the rest of the life.
Where would you draw the line between childhood and adulthood?
Scientifically, the brain of a human being develops fully at the age of 25 years, which marks adulthood. However, there is no decorated entrance from adolescence into adulthood. It is a continuous process that is marked by brain development. Adolescents must, therefore, depend on adults in learning the ways of handling the world around them. However, even though one's location and the environment determines how the law will treat an adolescent either as an underage or an adult science and particularly brain development should an important factor for the justice system whenever handling adolescent criminals.