In Defense of Defending Reduction in Age Bar of Adolescents in Case of Heinous Crimes-An Indian Perspective

Psychological human development generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood (age of majority). Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical, psychological and emotional development^{1, 2, 3}. The period of adolescents is most closely associated with the teenage years ^{4, 5} though its physical, psychological and cultural experiences may begin earlier and end later. For example, although puberty has been historically associated with the onset of adolescents’ development ⁶ it rather typically begins prior to teenage years and there has been a normative shift of it occurring in pre-adolescence, particularly in female (precocious puberty)⁷ physical growth, as distinct from puberty (particularly in males), and cognitive development generally seen in adolescence, can also extend into the early twenties. Thus chronological age provides only rough marker of adolescence and the authors can say that reason may be attributed to less parental control and heightened desire to experiment and explore the unknown. This paper dwells upon multiple factors that are contributory to crime.