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Juveniles at risk of being unfairly tried
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Contact:
Ron Roesch, 604.291.3370, ron_roesch@sfu.ca
Jodi Viljoen, 402.472.3328, jviljoen2@unlnotes.unl.edu
Ron Roesch, 604.291.3370, ron_roesch@sfu.ca
Jodi Viljoen, 402.472.3328, jviljoen2@unlnotes.unl.edu
December 1, 2004
Child and adolescent defendants between the ages of 11 and 14 are at risk of getting an unfair trial in adult court because many of them may be legally incompetent. If tried in adult court, 78 per cent of them would “show deficits in understanding their adjudication proceedings.” Those are some of the key findings of new research evaluating the extent to which 11 to 17-year-old defendants intellectually understand and are able to participate in adult court proceedings.
Ron Roesch, a psychologist specializing in law at Simon Fraser University, and Jodi Viljoen, one of his former doctoral students, authored the study. They interviewed 152 young male and female defendants over six months at a Washington State pre-trial centre. It is the first internationally to use the Fitness Interview Test to evaluate young defendants' understanding of adjudication proceedings and their ability to communicate with lawyers. Roesch and several colleagues developed the test in 1984 to evaluate the legal competency of adult defendants.
This study is also the first to examine the relationship between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and legal competency. “Youth with these symptoms were less able to communicate effectively with their attorneys than other defendants. They were less able to participate in legal decision-making, testify relevantly, and appropriately manage their courtroom behaviour,” says Viljoen, whose doctoral dissertation is the basis of this study. Viljoen is now an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's department of psychology.
Viljoen and Roesch attribute child and adolescent defendants' poor legal abilities to the fact that “they have not yet reached cognitive maturity.” The duo discovered that these defendants have notable cognitive deficits, such as a low IQ, and symptoms of depression, anxiety and oppositional behaviour problems.
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Ron Roesch, a psychologist specializing in law at Simon Fraser University, and Jodi Viljoen, one of his former doctoral students, authored the study. They interviewed 152 young male and female defendants over six months at a Washington State pre-trial centre. It is the first internationally to use the Fitness Interview Test to evaluate young defendants' understanding of adjudication proceedings and their ability to communicate with lawyers. Roesch and several colleagues developed the test in 1984 to evaluate the legal competency of adult defendants.
This study is also the first to examine the relationship between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and legal competency. “Youth with these symptoms were less able to communicate effectively with their attorneys than other defendants. They were less able to participate in legal decision-making, testify relevantly, and appropriately manage their courtroom behaviour,” says Viljoen, whose doctoral dissertation is the basis of this study. Viljoen is now an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's department of psychology.
Viljoen and Roesch attribute child and adolescent defendants' poor legal abilities to the fact that “they have not yet reached cognitive maturity.” The duo discovered that these defendants have notable cognitive deficits, such as a low IQ, and symptoms of depression, anxiety and oppositional behaviour problems.
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