SCIENCE: Psychologist Cautions that Adolescent Brains Are Still Developing

In an interview in the Science section of the New York Times, Dr. Laurence Steinberg, a psychologist at Temple University and the director of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice, states that juvenile offenders should be viewed under the law as less culpable than adults because their brains are still developing. In a forthcoming paper, Steinberg argues for a legal approach “under which most youths are dealt with in a separate justice system and none are eligible for capital punishment” (emphasis added). In the interview, which addresses the culpability of juveniles facing the death penalty, Dr. Steinberg discusses the new science of brain development that indicates maturation is going on much later in development than people had thought and thus that 17-year-olds may not be the same as adults. Steinberg notes that one

type of evidence has to do with improved connection between the limbic system, which is deep inside the brain and which is where a lot of emotional stimuli are processed, and the prefrontal cortex, which is the center of decision-making activity. We believe, we don’t know for sure, but we believe that this might lead to an improvement in decision making, so that, in the younger adolescent’s brain, it’s more likely that a very strong emotion will overwhelm rational decision making.