Getting the Elephant out of the Courtroom: Applying Developmental Perspectives to the Disposition (not Just the Assessment) of Juvenile Offenders.

Laurence Steinberg and Elizabeth Cauffman’s essay moves in a positive direction by suggesting ways to incorporate considerations of an adolescent’s developmental status into assessments regarding his or her delinquent and criminal behavior. If the assumptions underlying their thesis are correct, however, then their conclusions could and should be extended much further. Their analysis, taken together with current research on successful rehabilitation programs for serious juvenile offenders, suggests that the current movement toward earlier waiver of juveniles into adult court is based on a simplistic and outmoded understanding of issues of juvenile maturity and amenability to treatment. We outline an alternative perspective on the role of the courts in handling juveniles that is more in keeping with current theory and research.