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Teenagers are more likely to plead guilty to crimes they did not commit because they are less able to make mature decisions, new research shows.
Experts have called for major changes to the criminal justice system after finding innocent younger people are far more likely admit to offences, even when innocent, than adults.
Those who carried out the study say teenagers should not be allowed to make deals where they face a lesser charge in return for pleading guilty. The study suggests young people are more likely to be enticed by these deals, and take what they see as an advantageous offer even when they have done nothing wrong.
Most criminal convictions in the UK and the USA occur as the result of guilty pleas, rather than trial. This means the majority of convictions are the result of decisions made by people accused of crimes rather than jurors.
The research was carried out in the USA, where a system known as "plea bargaining" is utilised, but the academics say their discovery has implications for countries across the world that allow teenagers accused of crimes to receive a sentence or charge reduction by pleading guilty. Specifically, the researchers recommend restricting reductions that may entice innocent teenagers into pleading guilty and making it easier for teenagers to change pleas after they have been entered.
Other research has found adolescents are less able to perceive risk and resist the influence of peers because of developmental immaturity.
https://phys.org/news/2018-03-teenagers-guilty-crimes-didnt-commit.html
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by unauthorized on Saturday March 17 2018, @06:38PM (2 children)
Welcome to cognitive dissonance. It's a bitch isn't it?
If your child behaves like that, then that raises some questions about how you raised them.
But to return to your point, what exactly disqualifies it as an act of torture?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday March 18 2018, @12:01AM
Every snowflake is special, they are all unique and what works on all the snowflakes you've ever known may not work at all on another one.
Now, beatings, they generate a fairly predictable result - not a desirable one: fear, cowering, resentment, retaliation, explosive retribution...
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Bot on Monday March 19 2018, @12:44PM
> what exactly disqualifies it as an act of torture?
The "excruciating" adjective prefixed to pain in the definition I have read on this thread, I guess.
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