One cannot go to any conference or training these days without adolescent brain issues being discussed. It is a topic up there with evidence-based practices and trauma-informed care in terms of popularity as keynote themes.
Presentations generally include MRI scans showing that the regions of the brain sensitive to risk-taking and rewards usually develop near the start of puberty, while the regions responsible for decision-making and judgment do not mature until the early to mid-20s.
While this information is important to those who work in the juvenile justice system, many practitioners, including prosecutors, are sometimes uncomfortable with this topic. When I first heard that about brain science, my immediate reaction was “I hate science, that’s why I went to law school!” And the topic of neuroscience was never covered in law school — at least in the classes that I took.
[For more of this story, written by Susan Broderick, go to http://jjie.org/op-ed-building...arch-reality/108582/]
Comments (0)