Explain Why Minors Should Never Be Tried As An Adult

Every year about two hundred thousand minors are prosecuted as adults. Most of these are for nonviolent offences. This is two hundred thousand minors that are now subjected to so many negative effects from being falsely considered an adult, when they were not mentally or physically an adult yet. There are many reasons why minors should never be tried as an adult, their psychological and psychosocial maturity, social maturity, and the effects being in an adult facility has on a minor are the three reasons that need to be elaborated on now. Psychosocial maturity is defined as the general level of an individual's socioemotional competence and adaptive function. Psychological maturity is defined as the ability to respond to the environment in an appropriate way. Psychosocial and psychological maturity is important to consider when a minor is to be
“Juveniles under the age of 18 will display lower levels of psychosocial maturity than participants aged 18 or 25” (Bryan-Hancock and Casey 60). Steinberg found in an experiment that by the age of 21 participants appeared to be more stabilized in their judgment, indicating that young people may not reach levels of adult maturity until 21, and are developing skills in this domain mostly in the ages from 16 to 19 (Bryan-Hancock and Casey 59). This is to say that before 21 the brain is not stabilized in judgment, therefore when a young person commits a crime their not capable of judging the consequences of their actions like an adult. Research shows that although juveniles understand that their behaviors are considered wrong, due