Should the juveniles be executed?
Today, we can see a greater incidence of juvenile delinquencies. There are a lot of factors that contribute to this type of crime when underage adolescents commit violent crimes. Without these factors, most of the people would never break a law. Most of them take their roots in their early childhood when they were exposed to abuse from the parent’s side or were bullied at school. Of course, two different people can come from the same environment.
There are a lot of biological and psychological factors such as nervous diseases, endocrine disorders, physical exuberance and even lack of sleep (Bahnham, 1927). Scientists have also discovered that due to the fact that the brains are not developed fully until 22 years, the teenagers are more likely to impulsive actions without realizing the consequences. They are also much easier to manipulate, so adult skilled criminals can influence and involve them in law breaking violent activity (“Juveniles and the Death Penalty”, 2004).
Taking into consideration all the mentioned facts, I think that teenagers should not be executed. In case they commit the hideous offence, all the efforts of the law enforcement should be put into finding the causes of such an aggressive behavior and people, who had an impact on these children. Responsible institutions have to eliminate all these negative effects by appropriate educational-corrective measures and a treatment if needed.
The death penalty is also fairly considered to be not less violent than the murder. It is even crueler because makes people wait to be killed. The children, whose life was already ruined, do not deserve such ending. Fortunately, there are no cases of this unusual punishment practiced on people under 18 since 2005 (Roper v. Simmons, 2005).
References
Banham Bridges. (1927). Factors Contributing to Juvenile Delinquency. 17 (4). Retrieved from:
http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2038&context=jclc
Juveniles and the death penalty. (2004). Retrieved from American Civil Liberties Union:
https://www.aclu.org/juveniles-and-death-penalty
Roper v. Simmons.(2005). No. 03-633. U. S. Supreme Court. Retrieved from Death Penalty Information Center:
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/u-s-supreme-court-roper-v-simmons-no-03-633
