Caren Harp
In May 2017, here at the JJIE.org, Caren Harp, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the Department of Justice, wrote in great detail her thoughts about juvenile justice. The column follows.
In it she writes about “misplaced reliance on nascent neuroscience and neuroimaging evidence.” It “invites pushback from those who favor a retributive system, and it may create some unintended and unwanted consequences for youth and young adults.”
(Watch this space for reaction from the juvenile justice community Wednesday.)
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Caren Harp’s column begins:
The renewed focus on adolescent development in juvenile justice is welcome and overdue. Adolescence is potentially the best opportunity to intervene effectively with youth to help them develop empathy, impulse control and good decision-making skills.
Although the juvenile court system has, since its inception, been mindful of adolescent development and the relative immaturity of youth compared to their adult counterparts, the system has gone through periods of harsh and retributive responses to crime. When that happens, change is in order, but the challenge for the system is … More.
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