Should Juvenile Offenders Be Sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole

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After reading the article Should Juvenile offenders ever be sentenced to life without the Possibility of Parole (Steinberg, L.& Scott, E. 2010) I did some research on the adolescence stage of human development, regarding the reason juvenile offenders should not be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. And I have conducted a few facts of the adolescent brain supporting this argument. I have heard many stories of the cruel and evil crimes that some children have committed. There are a number of causes that can occur during development, that can cause these, kind of criminal behaviors. Antisocial behavior which can be broken down into different types of behavior (1.) the presence of antisocial behavior for instance aggressive and disobedient behavior (2.) the lack of prosocial behavior, prosocial is a behavior that demonstrates cooperative, truthful and caring children. Behaviors such as these can really alter a child’s behavior. Most children show signs of some antisocial behavior during their development, and different children demonstrate different levels of prosocial and antisocial behavior. Some children however, may manifest extreme levels of both antisocial and prosocial behaviors; for example, a very loving but hostile child. Some children can experience low levels of both types of behaviors. Extreme levels of antisocial behavior are considered a mental illness. Young children may show extreme antagonism towards authoritative figures, and be diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder. On the other hand, older children may lie, or engage in violent behavior, and be diagnosed with conduct disorder. Factors that contribute to an individual child’s antisocial behavior vary, but frequently the... ... middle of paper ... ... References Steinberg, L., & Scott, E., (2010). Should Juvenile Offenders Ever be sentenced to Life without the Possibility of Parole? Human Development, 53, p. 53-54. DOI: 10.1159/000288207 Steinberg, L., & Scott, E., (2010). Should Juvenile Offenders Ever be sentenced to Life without the Possibility of Parole? Human Development, 54, p. 53-54. DOI: 10.1159/000288207 Papalia, D. E., & Feldman, R. D., (1975-2011). A Child’s World: Infancy through Adolescence. (12thed.)In M. Campbell & H. Paulsen (Eds.), Psychological Development in Adolescence (pg. 463) New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill. Myers, G. D., (2010).Psychology (9th ed.). In T. Kuehn & P. Twickler (Eds.), The Biology of Mind. (p.64). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Myers, G. D., (2010). Psychology (9th ed.) In T. Kuehn & P. Twickler (Eds.), The Biology of Mind. (p.65) New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

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