Violent juvenile offenders: Adult time for adult crime?

In this CNN news piece there is a discussion of juvenile crime
and the topic of “scientific research on the adolescent brain.” I tend to
bristle at this type of discussion. Maybe it’s because I
work with victims of violent crime. I think of their reaction. Some might
agree that the juvenile brain is different than that of an adult and
therefore decisions made by juveniles should be
judged differently. But some crime victims I know would be horrified by
this presentation of evidence (and they would question it) since it
seems like an excuse for the behavior of juveniles who have committed horrific crimes. Does that excuse their behavior? If
this scientific research is compelling and policy
makers were to take it seriously and make policy decisions
based  on it the fact remains that there have been some seriously violent
crimes committed by juvenile offenders. What do we do with them?

When I read this story, however, I think about the efficacy of
restorative justice. It works. The evidence based research is there. Some of the
best research has been conducted by Dr. Heather Strang and Dr. Lawrence Sherman. The research conclusions reached by Strang and Sherman cover much ground.
But some of the very interesting findings include the following: 
restorative justice seems to reduce crime more effectively with more rather
than less, serious crimes. The research also suggests that restorative
justice works with violent crime more consistently than with property
crimes.

For many years most of us in this field have heard arguments made
by those not convinced of the value of restorative justice that RJ
should be used ONLY with nonviolent crimes, particularly property crimes.
In fact, most of those who take this position stress that RJ should be used
ONLY with juveniles. This research apparently shows the value is
increased when used in cases of violent crime.  My
reason for highlighting this research is to stress the importance of
restorative justice in cases of juvenile crime—violent crime. Should
juveniles be punished by sending them to adult prisons? No. Should policymakers
and judges consider increasing the use of restorative justice in cases of
juvenile crime? Yes, and again, the evidence is there. It works.