Healthy development as a human right: insights from developmental neuroscience for youth justice
Open accessAbstract
Healthy development is a fundamental right of the individual, regardless of race, ethnicity, or social class. Youth require special protections of their rights, in part owing to vulnerabilities related to psychological and brain immaturity. These rights include not only protection against harm but opportunities for building the cognitive, emotional, and social skills necessary for becoming a contributing member of society. They apply to all youth, including those within the adult criminal justice system, which raises the legal question of when adult capacity and responsibility begin and special protections are no longer warranted. This article highlights ( a) empirical findings from developmental science on when psychological and neurobiological development reaches maturity; ( b) the extent to which this scientific knowledge guides current policies and practices in the treatment of youth in the United States; and ( c) emerging policies in the treatment of young people in the justice system based on developmental science.
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Developmental science and human rights are complementary frameworks for understanding adolescents' rights.
“Developmental science, which aims to understand and optimize human development, and human rights, which define the rights inherent to all human beings, are complementary frameworks for understanding adolescents’ rights”
From The role (and limits) of developmental neuroscience in determining adolescents' autonomy rights: The case for reproductive and voting rights (2024) · cites this paper as Casey et al., 2020
There is a growing shift in the description of the developing brain from simple dual system models to circuit-based accounts of development and function.
“There is a growing shift in the description of the developing brain from simple dual system models of cognitive and emotive brain systems to circuit-based accounts of development and function that may account for nuanced, yet significant, differences in the capacities of children relative to adolescents, adolescents relative to young adults, and young adults relative to older adults (Casey et al.,”
From The role (and limits) of developmental neuroscience in determining adolescents' autonomy rights: The case for reproductive and voting rights (2024) · cites this paper as Casey et al., 2020
More recently, neuroscientific research is starting to embrace a more balanced view of young people.
“More recently, neuroscientific research is starting to embrace a more balanced view of young people (Casey et al., 2020; Galvan, 2021), demonstrating ways that the existing research can be framed and expanded.”
From The role (and limits) of developmental neuroscience in determining adolescents' autonomy rights: The case for reproductive and voting rights (2024) · cites this paper as Casey et al., 2020
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
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“…and human rights, which define the rights inherent to all human beings, are complementary frameworks for understanding adolescents ’ rights, and we will invoke both here as is commonly done in law and medicine and is increasingly prevalent in developmental science work as well (Casey et al., 2020).”
- Authors
- Casey, B. J., Taylor-Thompson, K., Rubien-Thomas, E., Robbins, M., & Baskin-Sommers, A.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- School of Law, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA;
- Pace University (US)
- Venue
- Annual Review of Law and Social Science
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2020-10-13
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 203-222
- ISSN
- 1550-3585 (ISSN-L)
- 1550-3631
- OpenAlex
- W3028050094
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 0.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-sa
- Locations
- Annual Review of Law and Social Science (publishedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Law and Policy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
- Social Sciences › Law › Legal and Social Justice Studies
- Keywords
- healthy development, human rights, juvenile justice, developmental neuroscience, brain development, psychological maturity, cognitive and emotional development, adult criminal justice system, age of majority, juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice policy, neurodevelopmental vulnerability
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