The Age of Culpability: Children and the Nature of Criminal Responsibility

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Gideon Yaffe (Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, Yale Law School)

The Age of Culpability

Children and the Nature of Criminal Responsibility

Gideon Yaffe (Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, Yale Law School)

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English

Oxford University Press
26 March 2020

Jurisprudence & philosophy of law; Juvenile criminal law

Why be lenient towards children who commit crimes?

Reflection on the grounds for such leniency is the entry point into the development, in this book, of a theory of the nature of criminal responsibility and desert of punishment for crime.

Gideon Yaffe argues that child criminals are owed lesser punishments than adults thanks not to their psychological, behavioural, or neural immaturity but, instead, because they are denied the vote.

This conclusion is reached through accounts of the nature of criminal culpability, desert for wrongdoing, strength of legal reasons, and what it is to have a say over the law. The centrepiece of this discussion is the theory of criminal culpability. To be criminally culpable is for one's criminal act to manifest a failure to grant sufficient weight to the legal reasons to refrain. The stronger the legal reasons, then, the greater the criminal culpability. Those who lack a say over the law, it is argued, have weaker legal reasons to refrain from crime than those who have a say. They are therefore reduced in criminal culpability and deserve lesser punishment for their crimes. Children are owed leniency, then, because of the political meaning of age rather than because of its psychological meaning. This position has implications for criminal justice policy, with respect to, among other things, the interrogation of children suspected of crimes and the enfranchisement of adult felons.

By: Gideon Yaffe (Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Psychology Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Psychology Yale Law School)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 392g
ISBN: 9780198860020
ISBN 10: 0198860021
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 26 March 2020
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction 1: Immaturity and Reduce Culpability 2: Kids will be kids . . . until they grow out of it 3: Criminal Culpability 4: Desert for Wrongdoing 5: The Weight of a Legal Reason 6: Giving Kids a Break 7: Who Else is Owed a Break? 8: What Breaks are Owed?

Gideon Yaffe is Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at Yale. He is the author of Attempts: In the Philosophy of Action and the Criminal Law (OUP 2010), as well as books about John Locke and Thomas Reid. He also collaborates with neuroscientists on experiments intended to be of relevance to criminal responsibility assessments.

Reviews for The Age of Culpability: Children and the Nature of Criminal Responsibility

This book contains a mountain of novel and important insights about several of the most central questions in the philosophy of criminal law. ... I hope and predict that it will stimulate a wave of efforts to explain whether and why our criminal justice system should treat kids more leniently than adults. But even if no flood of future efforts is forthcoming, Yaffe's book stands as a valuable contribution to several of the most central and important topics in the philosophy of criminal law. * Douglas Husak, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews * The work contributes original analysis of why we should treat children in conflict with the law differently and more leniently to adults. * Nessa Lynch, International Journal of Children's Rights * The Age of Culpability is going to be talked about by scholars in law and philosophy for many years to come. It is daring and interesting in an age when so much of contemporary philosophy is staid. I confess that I have already assigned the book to a class of undergraduates, and they were riveted. It was a testament to the theoretical ingenuity and clarity with which Yaffe writes. * Raff Donelson, Metapsychology * Yaffe's book makes a significant contribution, and is well worth the time spent reading it for those interested in the topic. * Gabriel De Marco, Metapsychology *