Preadolescent adjudicative competence: methodological considerations and recommendations for practice standards

This article examines developmental and legal issues directed toward a downward age extension of forensic evaluation practice standards for preadolescent defendants whose competence is questioned. Existing research and practice standards were developed for cases involving adolescents and adults, but they lack sufficient application to evaluations of young children because of the ways in which legal parameters affect young children. We review practice implications of the legal role of "immaturity" for adjudicative competence, alterations of Dusky in some juvenile courts, and the role of parens patriae in competence hearings held in juvenile court. We examine competence abilities in a developmental framework. Examining practice standards is timely because adjudicative competence in preadolescent defendants has taken on recent significance. The last decade saw changes in the stringency of delinquency statutes, increased emphasis on adversarial approaches to juvenile proceedings, and a de-emphasis on rehabilitation and parens patriae protections. Statutory changes and increased referrals have heightened inquiry into the meaning of preadolescent adjudicative competence.