Journal article
Distinguishing "Incorrigibility" From "Transient Immaturity": Risk Assessment in the Context of Sentencing/Resentencing Evaluations for Juvenile Homicide Offenders
Translational issues in psychological science, v 5(2), pp 132-142
01 Jun 2019
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
In two recent cases, the United States Supreme Court abolished mandatory juvenile life without parole (LWOP; Miller v. Alabama, 2012) and held that the ban applies retroactively (Montgomery v. Louisiana, 2016). Pointedly, the Court suggested that juveniles should only be sentenced to LWOP when they are "incorrigible" or "irreparably corrupt." In practical terms, this means juveniles should only be sentenced to LWOP if they are unlikely to desist from criminal activity. Although there are no measures of long-term risk for juveniles, making it difficult to predict which juveniles are incorrigible or irreparably corrupt, forensic mental health professionals are increasingly being called upon to offer opinions about the long-term risk of juvenile offenders in homicide cases. This article provides a framework through which forensic mental health professionals can approach such cases. Given research indicating that most juvenile offenders will naturally desist from criminal activity over time, we suggest the default assumption of forensic mental health professionals should be that any individual juvenile offender is also likely to desist. Any adjustment from this base-rate-informed assumption requires empirical justification-namely, the existence of factors associated with life-course persistent offending. Further, treatment amenability, protective factors, and the availability of effective interventions for reducing criminal risk should be considered.
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Details
- Title
- Distinguishing "Incorrigibility" From "Transient Immaturity": Risk Assessment in the Context of Sentencing/Resentencing Evaluations for Juvenile Homicide Offenders
- Creators
- Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo - Drexel UniversitySarah Fishel - Drexel UniversityDavid DeMatteo - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Translational issues in psychological science, v 5(2), pp 132-142
- Publisher
- Educational Publishing Foundation-American Psychological Assoc
- Number of pages
- 11
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000719356900003
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85121406854
- Other Identifier
- 991019168830204721
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Psychology
- Psychology, Multidisciplinary