[Shattered Soul]

For those of you who believe that juveniles can be rehabilitated, I ask the following question:

At what age is it do you believe that rehabilitation is not likely to do much good? Does the liklihood of rehabilitation decrease with age? It would make sense to me that a five-year-old would be more likely to be "rehabilitated" than a 12-year-old...

A five-year-old may know that hitting is wrong, and hurts, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he knows that if he hits his infant sibling on the head with a cast-iron skillet that it will KILL them. An eight-year-old probably knows that it will hurt them, but may not understand the concept of death (although I may be stretching it here. Most eight-year-olds know about death), a nine-or-ten-year-old KNOWS better.

The older the kid gets, the more aware they are of the consequences of their actions. Therefore, why shouldn't they be held responsible? How much awareness is required? At what age do we say that rehabilitation will be less effective than punishment?


rehabilitation

n 1: the restoration of someone to a useful place in society 2. To restore to good health or useful life, as through therapy and education.

(in other words, to be reasonably sure they won't commit said crime again)