Psychiatry and Law Service, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2012;40(1):21-32.
Forensic psychiatric evaluators of adolescent defendants are often asked to address open-ended questions that affect what court an adolescent will be tried in and what sentence he might receive. Such questions often involve the extent to which the adolescent should be considered less culpable than an adult who has committed a similar offense. Assessing partial or diminished culpability in an adolescent is difficult because the concept of partial culpability is complex, assessment methods are inexact, and the implications for legal disposition are often not clear. This article suggests 10 factors a forensic evaluator may wish to consider in reaching opinions about an adolescent's culpability: appreciation of wrongfulness, ability to conform to law, developmental course of aggression and impulsivity, psychosocial immaturity (including time sense, susceptibility to peer pressure, risk-taking, and ability to empathize), environmental circumstances, peer group norms, out-of-character action, incomplete personality development, mental illness, and reactive attitudes toward the offense.
司法精神科评估师经常被要求回答影响青少年被告将在哪个法庭受审和可能被判何种刑罚的开放式问题。这些问题通常涉及到应在多大程度上考虑青少年比犯有类似罪行的成年人罪责较轻。评估青少年的部分或减轻罪责是困难的，因为部分罪责的概念很复杂，评估方法不精确，而且对法律处置的影响通常不明确。本文提出了司法精神科评估师在对青少年的罪责发表意见时可能希望考虑的 10 个因素：对错误的认识、遵守法律的能力、攻击性和冲动性的发展过程、心理社会不成熟（包括时间感、易受同伴压力、冒险和同理心的能力）、环境情况、同龄群体规范、异常行为、不完整的人格发展、精神疾病以及对犯罪的反应态度。
