Treating Emerging Adults Differently: How Developmental Science Informs Perceptions of Justice Policy

Abstract

Several states have proposed changes to how their legal system responds to young or emerging adults. Scholars, policy makers, and advocates have highlighted the developmental and behavioral similarities between juvenile and emerging adults when arguing that emerging adults should be treated differently from adults. This experimental study relies on data from 277 participants recruited via Amazon Mturk to examine how lay people respond to the presentation of developmental science evidence as support for such policy changes. The results indicate that science may be an effective tool for motivating some people’s perceptions, but not all. Liberals who reviewed developmental science evidence were more likely to support general policy changes targeting emerging adults. Liberals were also more likely to find emerging adults less culpable after reviewing developmental science evidence. Moderates and conservatives were not responsive to developmental science evidence supporting policy change. Furthermore, while many were in favor of treating emerging adults differently than older adults, very few thought they should automatically be treated within the juvenile justice system.