Adolescent Brain Development and the Law

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Adolescents & the Law

Many people tend to label adolescents as risk-takers or trouble-makers. While they do tend to favor riskier behaviors (Bonnie & Scott, 2013), neuroscience research is helping us understand why this is so. There is growing literature focused on the adolescent brain and how adolescents should be treated in court. In one recent review article, it mentions that we are making huge advancements in understanding the adolescent brain, but it can’t yet evaluate the maturity of individual youth for the purposes of court cases (Bonnie & Scott, 2013).

Previously, there was more focus on punitive measures for adolescents in the 1980s to 1990s due to a rise in crime. There were more youths put into confinement in the juvenile system during that time. Today, understanding of the rate at which teen brains mature have lawmakers lobbying for more lenient sentences for those adolescents who commit crimes. There has been a decrease in the rate of crime, and there is evidence that putting youth in jail makes them more likely to continue to commit crimes once they are released. Others believe that due to the current understanding of the brain of adolescents, it’s not fair to give harsh sentences. Why is it not fair? Research is beginning to show why adolescents tend to take more risks. Here, we will highlight a few, critical changes that happen during adolescence and we will briefly discuss ethical implications related to using this research in the courtroom.

What Changes are Taking Place in the Brain during Adolescent Development?

Limbic System

One of the biggest changes that take place during adolescent development is changes in the limbic system, otherwise known as the reward system (Konrad et al., 2013). The limbic system mainly includes the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and the basal ganglia (Guy Evans, 2023). This system is responsible for more than processing reward and punishment, it is also responsible for the processing and regulation of emotions, and interpreting social information.

The Prefrontal Cortex

This area is important for regulation and essentially putting on the brakes to help stop us from engaging in risky behavior(s). This region of the brain is responsible for many of our cognitive abilities that help us navigate our daily lives. For example, the prefrontal cortex is important for controlling our impulses, planning ahead, reasoning, decision-making, weighing pros and cons, and more (Casey et al., 2005).

Developmental Plasticity 

Developmental psychology and neuroscience-related research is showing that adolescent development is another critical period of development where we see rapid neuronal development happening (Fuhrmann et al. 2015). During adolescence, the brain is creating and strengthening new connections via myelination in the white and gray matter as well as synaptic pruning that takes place throughout the cortex (Blakemore, 2012; Khundrakpam et al., 2016).

Other Changes that Occur

• Changes in executive function, improved patterns/honed cognitive abilities such as response inhibition (Carriedo et al., 2016).

• Functional changes with specific neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine and serotonin).

• Changes in the ‘social brain’ such as increased sensitivity to social cues or being more susceptible to social influences like peer pressure (Welborn et al., 2016).

These are just a few highlights of the many changes that are occurring during adolescent development. Considering some of these many changes, does this research serve enough evidence to support sentencing an adolescent with certain crimes? For example, in Roper v. Simmons (2005), the Supreme Court decided that it was not fair to give the death penalty to adolescents due to behavioral research. The American Psychological Association (APA) recently voted in a resolution to support extending ineligibility for the death penalty to teens up until after age 21 (APA, 2022). “The resolution notes that there are more than 3,000 laws and government regulations restricting the behavior and actions of people under age 21 in the United States, such as being legally permitted to buy alcohol or tobacco, obtaining a license for a concealed handgun, becoming a foster parent or obtaining a credit card without a co-signer” (APA, 2022). Those laws and regulations show how lawmakers feel about granting increasing privileges to teens, while still evaluating the maturity level of adolescents as a whole. Current thoughts are that more rehabilitative opportunities should be given to teens who commit crimes while their brains are malleable and able to be influenced in positive ways. 

Ethical Implications & Future Directions

In some of the newest longitudinal studies to date, research is showing that the adolescent brain isn’t as broken as people have previously been led to believe (Abrams, 2022). Their brains are growing and strengthening connections which gives them the flexibility to learn about the world. This data is helping neuroscientists to look more closely at the adolescent brain and realize that many large changes happen neuronally into the early 20’s. Each adolescent develops at different rates and that can translate to how mature an adolescent might be. While this is promising, it’s also concerning because this creates challenges for creating a hard-fast system for prosecutors to follow. Since the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed, research is finding other brain pathways to help those who are suffering from things such as suicidal thoughts instead of using traditional CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). They are finding that by bypassing the prefrontal cortex (which is still developing), they can alter memories through the hippocampus and amygdala.

Despite these advances, there are still ethical considerations to be made and questions that may or may not be answered:

• When can we hold an adolescent responsible for their behavior?

• Should juveniles be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole?

• If society viewed adolescent development as a sensitive period of opportunity, would we see changes in how we treat adolescents?

• Will we need to create a separate prosecuting system for juveniles?

Picture from https://www.apa.org/topics/teens

REFERENCES

Abrams, Z. (2022). What neuroscience tells us about the teenage brain. Monitor on Psychology, 53(5). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/07/feature-neuroscience-teen-brain

American Psychological Association. (2022). APA calls for extending ineligibility for the death penalty to adolescent offenders younger than age 21 [Press release]. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2022/08/limiting-death-penalty

Blakemore, S-J. (2012). Imaging brain development: The adolescent brain. Neuroimage, 61, 397–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.11.080

Bonnie, R., & Scott, E. (2013). The Teenage Brain: Adolescent Brain Research and the Law. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(2), 158–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721412471678

Carriedo, N., Corral, A., Montoro, P. R., Herrero, L., & Rucián, M. (2016). Development of the updating executive function: From 7-year-olds to young adults. Developmental Psychology, 52, 666–678. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000091

Casey, B. J., Tottenham, N., Liston, C., & Durston, S. (2005). Imaging the developing brain: What have we learned about cognitive development? Trends in Cognitive Science, 9, 104–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2005.01.011

Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J., & Blakemore, S-J. (2015). Adolescence as a sensitive period of brain development. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(10), 558–566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.07.008

Guy Evans, O. (2023, February 8). Limbic System: Definition, Parts, Functions, And Location. SimplyPsychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/limbic-system.html

Khundrakpam, B., Lewis, J., Zhao, L., Chouinard-Decorte, F., & Evans, A. (2016). Brain connectivity in normally developing children and adolescents. Neuroimage, 134, 192–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.062

Konrad, K., Firk, C., & Uhlhaas, P. J. (2013). Brain development during adolescence: neuroscientific insights into this developmental period. Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 110(25), 425–431. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2013.0425

Roper v. Simmons, 125 S. Ct. 1183 (2005).

Welborn, B. L., Lieberman, M. D., Goldenberg, D., Fuligni, A. J., Galván, A., & Telzer, E. H. (2016). Neural mechanisms of social influence in adolescence. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(1), 100–109. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv095