Study: Immaturity May Spark Teen Crime

December 2, 2007 By MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer Study: Immaturity May Spark Teen Crime (AP)

Sheila Montgomery and her son Zack, 17, are shown, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007, at their home in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

(AP) -- The teenage brain, Laurence Steinberg says, is like a car with a good accelerator but a weak brake. With powerful impulses under poor control, the likely result is a crash. And, perhaps, a crime.



Content from The Associated Press expires 15 days after original publication date. For more information about The Associated Press, please visit www.ap.org .

Similar stories from PHYSorg:


Teens undergo fast brain makeover

created Mar 24, 2006 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (16) | comments 0

While adolescents may reason as well as adults, their emotional maturity lags, says new research

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 4

Why dopamine freezes parkinson patients and drives drug addicts

created Aug 08, 2008 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (18) | comments 0

UN reports decline in cultivation of some drugs

created Jun 24, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Recognizing children's successes in all areas may prevent teenage depression

created Jan 08, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0


print this article email this article download pdf blog this article bookmark this article     Stumble it Digg this share on Facebook retweet share on Reddit add to delicious
Rate this story - 4.2 /5 (5 votes)

Rank Filter

Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

  • nilbud - Dec 02, 2007
    • Rank: not rated yet
    Amazing news teenagers are volatile and shouldn't be tried as adults. Every country in the world except the US knows this already. They should research what's wrong with their hanging judges.

December 2, 2007 all stories

Comments: 1

4.2 /5 (5 votes)
  • Stumble this up

  • Digg this

  • share this



  • hide
  • Relevant PhysicsForums posts

  • How to prevent another stroke?
    created 21 hours ago
  • Swine flu vaccination
    created Nov 10, 2009
  • Improving the brain through chemistry
    created Nov 07, 2009
  • Sleep / REM Sleep and homeostasis
    created Nov 07, 2009
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

Other News

Dopamine enhances expectation of pleasure in humans

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 34 minutes ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Enhancing the effects of the brain chemical dopamine influences how people make life choices by affecting expectations of pleasure, according to new research from the UCL Institute of Neurology.


Research reveals lipids' unexpected role in triggering death of brain cells

Medicine & Health / Research

created 37 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The lipid that accumulates in brain cells of individuals with an inherited enzyme disorder also drives the cell death that is a hallmark of the disease, according to new research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital ...


Study finds many people with hemianopia have difficulty detecting pedestrians while driving

Medicine & Health / Other

created 48 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Schepens Eye Research Institute scientists have found that--when tested in a driving simulator--patients with hemianopia (blindness in one half of the visual field in both eyes) have significantly more difficulty detecting ...


Playing sport up to the end of pregnancy is healthy for the baby and the mother

Playing sport up to the end of pregnancy is healthy for the baby and the mother

Medicine & Health / Health

created 18 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Contrary to more conservative customs, exercising up to the end of pregnancy has no harmful effect on the weight or size of the foetus. This is what has been indicated in a study carried out by researchers ...


Advances in malaria research show promise for fight against one of the world's deadliest diseases

Medicine & Health / Other

created 28 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In a novel approach at disseminating scientific research, the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute (JHMRI) will hold a web summit to release the latest breakthroughs in malaria research, including new approaches to boosting ...