Developmental reasons for current law
John Smith
American University Developmental reasons for current law It’s not every day that the issue of child prosecution is brought up. However, after the shooting of a young girl in a grade school library by her fellow six year old class mate, it is an issue that is brought under scrutiny. Was the young boy responsible for the consequences or is he exempt by his young age? According to the U.S. law the boy is legally free from blame. Many would respond to this in rage and call for social justice; however, when deeper studies are made in the field of psychology and a somewhat basic understanding of cognitive childhood development is gained, one will come to realize that a boy of that age is neither legally liable for his accidents nor capable of criminal intent. The reason this law is in practice is because popular studies show that proper understanding of consequences are inhibited by the immature limbic system, emotional regulation, aggression control, and a weak grasp of morality. The limbic system is the area of the brain that is associated with the control over emotion. In a child under seven, the brain capacity has not reached its height. For example, myelination, the process by which axons are coated with a fatty layer causing faster brain triggering, are extremely slow in comparison to someone who is still only 16 (Berger, 213). The book mentions that the child’s impulses are “uninhibited” and their limbic system could cause rash decisions causing them to hide in fear rather than get help (Berger, 225). Piaget developed famous stages of cognitive develop among children. In his first stage he mentions that cognitive development begins 2-6 years of age. He calls it preoperational, and during this time “children do not yet use logical operations, but intelligence is no longer limited to senses and motor skills” (Berger, 237). As a judge, this alone would deter me from finding anyone under the age of seven liable for even the brutal crime of shooting because it is a crime done by an egocentric mind. Emotional regulation is another issue that has swayed this law into effect. When the areas of the limbic system in the brain connect to the frontal cortex that is when emotional control becomes possible. This process is developed in children between ages 2-6 (Berger 217). There is physiological proof that certain kinds of thinking are not possible in children under seven. This is why “temper tantrums” and other rash out slashes are evident in younger children. They literally don’t have the brain capacity to understand that they are exhibiting irrational behavior. How could a jury or judge hold a child of such low emotional capacity accountable? The answer to that question was addressed in the United States law which is meant to protect children, not deny justices. Aggression control and morality of a young child are closely related together. Piaget believed that morality was learned from playing games with rules at about 7 years of age. During these years empathy and antipathy are the moral emotions that stand out in a developing child and lead to either a prosocial or antisocial child. It is the development or these moral emotions that regulate the aggression responses in children less than 7 years. All in all, there are many different reasons why psychology has aided in the development of a law that protects young children from the harshness of the law. As learned, there are many factors that inhibit the ability for a young child to neither understand serious consequences nor formulate criminal intent. So even though the grade school shooting was nothing less than a tragedy, it would have been more of a tragedy to lock up a 6 year old boy for a crime he truly could not fathom. References
Berger, K. S. (2011). The developing person through the life span (8th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishing.