Children's Development and Law.pdf

Children's Development and Law Three different stages ● Preconventional Stage 1: Obedience and punishment ● ○ Moral Judgement based on Punishment (Obedience) Stage 2: Self Interest in Focus ● ○ Maintain Law and Order ○ Rules only make sense if it serves all members of society Conventional Stage...

Children's Development and Law Three different stages ● Preconventional Stage 1: Obedience and punishment ● ○ Moral Judgement based on Punishment (Obedience) Stage 2: Self Interest in Focus ● ○ Maintain Law and Order ○ Rules only make sense if it serves all members of society Conventional Stage 3: Interpersonal Accord and Conformity ● ○ one is good in order to be seen as being a good person by others Stage 4: Authority and Maintaining Social Order ● ○ Fairness of Rules is questioned ○ What Society thinks is right ○ Adulthood Postconventional Stage 5: Social Contract Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles ○ universal ehtical idea (e.g. “everything is solved with compassion”) Base for Kohlberg’s Theory: ● Piaget’s Theory of cognitive development ○ Definition ■ argues that we have to conquer 4 stages of cognitive development ■ Only once we have gone through all the stages, at what age can vary, we are able to reach full human intelligence ○ Model of cognition: ■ Mental hardware: cognitive structures like memory necessary for encoding information, storing and retrieving it ■ Mental software: organised set of cognitive processes like reading ○ Stages ■ Question: How do we reach full human intelligence? → going through all stages in life ■ Senior-Motor-Stage ■ ■ ■ age 0-2: re-operational stage ■ age 2-7: curiosity, intuitive Concrete Operational Phase ■ age 3-11: logic, inductive reasoning Formal operational stage ■ 12>: abstract concepts, compassion Minimum age of criminal responsibility in different countries ● Germany ○ ○ ○ ○ ● until 14: no responsibility from 15-17: age of juvenile crime law 21 or older: adult criminal law between 18 and 21: a judge decides Other countries Country Age of No Responsibility Age of Juvenile Criminal Law Age of Adult Criminal Law Germany 14 15-17 (18-21) 21+ Switzerland 9 10-17 18+ United Kingdom 9 10- United States Australia 10+ 9 10- Reasons for raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility: 1. Child development and maturity: Younger children might not fully comprehend the consequences of their actions. 1. Piaget: age of 12 slowly start to develop an understanding of ethical, moral and social issues. 2. Neuroscience: Adolescent brain development continues into the mid-20s - late development of prefrontal cortex affecting behavioural control. 3. Impact on future: Early criminal charges can have lifelong consequences on employment and education opportunities. 4. Effectiveness of punishment: Evidence suggests punitive measures are less effective than rehabilitation and education in reducing re-offending. 5. Human rights: Some argue that it's a violation of child rights to subject them to the criminal justice system. Reasons against raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility: 1. Accountability: Some people believe that children who commit serious crimes should face legal consequences - potentially encouraging lawlessness. 2. Deterrence: The threat of legal punishment can act as a deterrent for potential juvenile offenders. 3. Victim rights: Some argue that the rights of victims should be prioritized and they deserve justice, irrespective of the offender's age.