Juvenile justice practices in Europe can inform practices in the US

[Judi Lynn]

July 31, 2018, Crime and Justice Research Alliance

Vermont recently moved to extend the jurisdiction of its juvenile courts from age 18 to 20, and three other U.S. states (Connecticut, Illinois, and Massachusetts) are considering similar proposals. This comes amid growing awareness that 18- to 25-year-olds are a developmentally distinct group that should be treated differently by the justice system. New research examined juvenile justice in Europe, where most countries have special laws or procedures for this age group; the findings can inform U.S. policymakers.

The study, by researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School and Columbia University, appears in Justice Evaluation Journal, a publication of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

"Europe has a long history of special practices and laws for young adults, so we looked at Germany, the Netherlands, and Croatia to determine what lessons might be learned in terms of providing more developmentally appropriate responses to youth," explains Sibella Matthews, an Australian attorney and recent graduate at the Harvard Kennedy School, who coauthored the study. "While these three countries have their own distinct approaches to youth justice, they also share similarities worth examining as U.S. policymakers reform their approach to emerging adults."

The researchers found that Germany, the Netherlands, and Croatia all apply juvenile sanctions, facilities, and in some cases, courts, to youth ages 18 or older. The Netherlands and Croatia rely on judicial discretion, meaning that they allow judges to decide whether to apply juvenile or adult sanctions. In Germany, all cases involving youth under age 21 are handled in youth court, and although judicial discretion is applied, most cases result in juvenile sanctions, especially those involving more serious offenses.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-07-juvenile-justice-europe.html#jCp

[Chris Studio]

1. It's absurd

to treat young teens as adults.... more about revenge than justice...

[Nitram]

2. Science gets no respect in the US these days. If it did, we'd be doing a lot of things differently.

I look at it this way, especially in the case of young men: In medieval times and before, men of the age 14 to 25 were on the front lines of battle. Their reflexes are much faster, and they have less fear of injury and death. The are capable of great violence without much thought of the consequences. We need an education system, and a justice system, that take this into account.

[appalachiablue]

3. Quite true about the brain dvmt. of young people,

especially in warfare where infantry formations of of young men- 'infants' served as front line foot soldiers.

- infantry: an army unit consisting of soldiers who fight on foot. It seems somewhat strange to have the word "infant" in a word that refers to a fighting military unit, but the word infantry once referred to the foot soldiers who were too young or too inexperienced to qualify for the cavalry. The word was taken from the Latin word for a youth, infantem, and so evolved into infantry after working its way through the Spanish, Italian, and French, appearing in English in the late 16th Century. https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/infantry

[Nitram]

5. I always liked the Who song "Young Man Blues" that riffs on the same idea.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Thanks for the early posts, bringing information I'd never heard. So glad to learn from them. n/t