Neuropsychiatric, psychoeducational, and family characteristics of 14 juveniles condemned to death in the United States

Abstract

Of the 3 7 juveniles currently condemned to death in the United States, all of the 1 4 incarcerated in four states received comprehensive psychiatric, neurologi-cal, neuropsychological, and educational evaluations. Nine had major neurological impairment, seven suf-f ered psychotic disorders antedating incarceration, seven evidenced significant organic dysfunction on neuropsychological testing, and only two had full-scale IQ scores above 90. Twelve had been brutally physi-cally abused, and five had been sodomized by relatives. For a variety of reasons the subjects ’ vulnerabilities were not recognized at the time of trial or sentencing, when they could have been used for purposes of mitigation. (Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:584-589) T he purpose of this paper is twofold: to describe the biopsychosocial characteristics of 14 juveniles sentenced to death in the United States and to explore the implications of these findings for imposition of the death penalty on juveniles. The execution of juveniles in America dates back to the seventeenth century when, in 1642, a child was executed for the crime of bestiality (1). Since then, 272 juveniles have been executed in the United States (2). This figure includes the execution in 1985-1986 of three boys who were condemned as juveniles but who were not executed until after they reached their major