Brain development research: Implications for Policy

Brain development research: Implications for Policy

1. What is policy

   • a course of principle of action adopted or proposed by a government, party, business, or individual(e.g. plans, system, guidelines, position, attitude)
   • regarding adolescence, policymaking usually referring to education, legal system, age privileges
     • initial media attention on the adolescent brain was negative
       • poor at making decisions/ cannot be trusted
     • more recent media coverage of the teen brain presents a more positive adaptive view

2. Adolescent brain research has been impactful in three primary ways

   • neurobiologically differentiated adolescents from children and adults
     • not simply "mini-adults" nor are they overgrown children
       • although they have better reasoning skills and overall cognitive ability than children, they still lack mature emotion regulation and life experience
         • does not have the typical adult experience yet, but more experienced than children and have more mature PFC
       • Historically, lawmakers have tended to binarize age boundaries, which has implications for legal sanctions
         • "minors"
           • presumed to be vulnerable, dependent, and incompetent to make decisions
         • Adults
           • viewed as autonomous, responsible, and entitled to exercise legal rights and privileges
   • helped explain adolescent behavior
     • we use the word maturity synonymously with adulthood(age)
       • some characteristics of maturity: intellectual curiosity, psychosocial skills, emotion regulation, perspective-taking, good decision-making skills, ability to delay immediate gratification
         • maturity=competence? hard to define, not practical
         • when is an individual "mature enough" to be trusted with certain responsibilities
           • end of adolescence
   • demonstrated that the brain is plastic well beyond the early postnatal yeats
     • plasticity: brain reshapes and refines itself in response to the environment to fit the needs of the individual=possibility
       • renders adolescents more vulnerable to negative influence(substance use, peer influence)
       • also makes adolescence an ideal time to positively influence or redirect problem behaviors
         • policymakers use this knowledge from developmental neuroscience research to determine the best interventions/sanctions/expectations of youth
   • helped create developmentally-appropriate expectations, policies and sanctions for adolescents

3. The Implications of Adolescent Brain Research on Policy: Juvenile Justice

   • competent participation of the individual in his/her defense is written into the Constitution
     • criminal defendant's ability to stand trial, measured by their ability to understand the proceedings and assist their attorneys
   • adolescent research helps policy systems define "competence"
     • understanding
       • basic understanding of the purpose of the trial
     • appreciation
       • ability to apply information to one's own situation in a manner that is neither distorted or irrational
     • reasoning
       • capacity to provide relevant information to counsel and process information
     • 30% of young adolescents showed impairment on understanding, reasoning, and appreciation domains
       • youth are unlikely to understand pleas or charges and more likely to confess
   • age-related laws
     • in a developmental period with extensive variability(individual differences)
     • self-regulation is not yet mature in adolescence
       • most criminal activity by adolescents is "adolescence-limited" rather than "life-course persistent"
     • may not understand the long-term consequences of their action
   • general characteristics, all substantiated by neuroscientific evidence, influence Supreme Court rulings
     • protracted development of PFC(regulatory systems) limits behavioral regulation and decision making capacity
     • juveniles are more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure
       • Youth who are transferred from the juvenile court to the adult criminal systems are ~35% more likely than youth who stay in juvenile court to be re-arrested for violent or other crime
     • the character of a juvenile is not as well formed as that of an adult; the personality traits of juveniles are more transitory, less fixed

4. Landmark juvenile justice cases

   • question to ask
     • is the juvenile offender solely culpable for the crime
     • what factors contributed to the offender's culpability
     • does the sentence violate the Eighth Amendment("cruel and unusual" punishment)
       • considered cruel if it is judge to be excessive given the nature and circumstances of the crime
   • Miller v Alabama and Jackson v Hobbs (2012)
     • ruled that it is unconstitutional for states to mandate life without parole for juveniles, regardless of the crime
       • adolescent hallmark features: immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate risks and consequences
         • adolescent brains are not yet fully mature in regions and systems related to higher-order executive functions such as impulse control, planning ahead, and risk avoidance
           • aligns with common sense and behavioral science
       • family and home environment
       • Juveniles show "heightened capacity for change"
   • Graham v Florida (2010)
     • banned the implementation of life without parole for juveniles who are convicted of crimes other than murder
       • the court decided that punishments for crimes should be "graduated and proportional"
         • retroactively reversed ruling of another 17 year old who had been sentenced to life without parole
     • parts of the brain involved in behavior control continue to mature through late adolescence
   • Roper v Simmons (2005)
     • case that abolished juvenile death penalty
       • lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility/more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influence and outside pressures like peer pressure/character not well formed
         • strong use of scientific research revolutionalized the Court's use of empirical evidence to support its rulings
       • cancelled the death sentences of 72 juvenile offenders who were on death row (29 in Texas)

5. The Implications of Adolescent Brain Research on Policy: Teenage Driving

   • Adolescent fatalities are even higher among
     • adolescent males
     • driving with teen passengers
     • new drivers
   • Car accidents are leading cause of teenage death
   • Potential explanations for higher driving accidents among adolescents
     • lack if ability to attend to driving tasks (immaturity)
       • argues for delaying full licensure for adolescents until they have become "mature"--> increase driving age
     • driving inexperience
       • argues for more policies that consider brain maturation and experience as important influences on driving ability
   • Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) law
     • effectively reduced teen drivers' fatal crashes by 38% (also because less teenagers driving)

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