Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- 1 An overview of child and adolescent mental health needs in the juvenile justice system
- 2 Psychiatric disorders of youth in detention
- 3 Disproportionate minority confinement
- 4 Police interrogation of youth
- 5 Assessing children's competence to stand trial and to waive Miranda rights: new directions for legal and medical decision-making in juvenile courts
- 6 The etiology of antisocial behavior: biopsychosocial risk factors across development
- 7 Substance abuse in youth offenders
- 8 Suicide and delinquent adolescents
- 9 Juvenile sex offenders
- 10 Educational needs of youth in the juvenile justice system
- 11 Science and the juvenile death penalty
- 12 Medical issues regarding incarcerated adolescents
- 13 Mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice
- 14 Psychological testing in juvenile justice settings
- 15 Psychopharmacology and juvenile delinquency
- 16 Evidence-based treatment for justice-involved youth
- 17 Community alternatives to incarceration
- 18 Innovative problem-solving court models for justice-involved youth
- 19 Ethical issues of youthful offenders: confidentiality; right to receive and to refuse treatment; seclusion and restraint
- 20 Post-adjudicatory assessment of youth
- Index
- References
5 - Assessing children's competence to stand trial and to waive Miranda rights: new directions for legal and medical decision-making in juvenile courts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 August 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- 1 An overview of child and adolescent mental health needs in the juvenile justice system
- 2 Psychiatric disorders of youth in detention
- 3 Disproportionate minority confinement
- 4 Police interrogation of youth
- 5 Assessing children's competence to stand trial and to waive Miranda rights: new directions for legal and medical decision-making in juvenile courts
- 6 The etiology of antisocial behavior: biopsychosocial risk factors across development
- 7 Substance abuse in youth offenders
- 8 Suicide and delinquent adolescents
- 9 Juvenile sex offenders
- 10 Educational needs of youth in the juvenile justice system
- 11 Science and the juvenile death penalty
- 12 Medical issues regarding incarcerated adolescents
- 13 Mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice
- 14 Psychological testing in juvenile justice settings
- 15 Psychopharmacology and juvenile delinquency
- 16 Evidence-based treatment for justice-involved youth
- 17 Community alternatives to incarceration
- 18 Innovative problem-solving court models for justice-involved youth
- 19 Ethical issues of youthful offenders: confidentiality; right to receive and to refuse treatment; seclusion and restraint
- 20 Post-adjudicatory assessment of youth
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
This chapter discusses the distinct but related issues of a child's competence to stand trial, to understand and to waive Miranda rights, and to make a knowing and voluntary statement when interrogated by police and prosecutors.
We begin this chapter with a brief overview of the history of the law relevant to the issues of a child's competence to stand trial. We then discuss the legal and medical frameworks for assessing a child's competence to stand trial.
We go on to present and to analyze the legal and medical frameworks and methodologies for assessing a child's competence to waive Miranda rights. We then turn to the methods by which lawyers and medical personnel evaluate a child's competence in these areas. These assessments play a central role in determining the admissibility into evidence of children's statements to law enforcement.
Finally, we include a section on the interactions and relationships between the judges, lawyers, and medical experts who participate in the assessment process and in the process of adjudicating competence to stand trial and children's capacity to make a knowing, intelligent waiver of Miranda warnings. It is important for all involved in the assessment and adjudicative process to understand the role of each actor in the process, and the dynamics of relationships that can affect the quality of the judge's decision as to admissibility of a child's statement to law enforcement.
The issues discussed in this chapter are of central importance to the juvenile court's adjudicative process.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Mental Health Needs of Young OffendersForging Paths toward Reintegration and Rehabilitation, pp. 79 - 121Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
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