Developmental Evidence for Contemporary Law

Criminal behavior is unfortunate at any age. Yet, when the one committing the crime is a child, society tends to not know how to digest the actual acts as they unfold. Children are supposed to be so innocent, yet they can be capable of heinous acts. Much of this is learned through exposure to such acts, making the act itself reflexive in that the child weighed its potential success. However, it is clear that the undeveloped cognitive abilities of a child, especially at the age of six, makes that child void of responsibility of criminal acts because they lack the proper fully developed cognitive structures to understand the very real consequences for their actions.

It is true; children are a lot smarter than we often think they are. They are true sponges, in that they absorb what they see and then reenact that behavior to...
[ View Full Essay]