By examining previous literature on the brain’s developmental process during adolescence, this paper aims to determine how early childhood trauma potentially effects decision making in adolescence through exploring self‐regulation theory. Through a self‐regulation framework, the hope is to determine the connection, if any, between early childhood trauma, delinquent behavior, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. The author insists that not only do adolescents have less culpability due to their brain developmental stage compared to adults, but also early childhood trauma puts adolescents at a greater risk of impaired self‐regulation which allows for more probable delinquent behavior. This paper also considers implications for social policy makers and youth advocates concerned with juvenile offenders tried in adult courts and existing racial disparities in the system.

中文翻译：

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幼儿创伤对青少年大脑发育，决策能力和不良行为的影响：在成人法院系统中审理的少年的政策含义

通过研究关于青春期大脑发育过程的先前文献，本文旨在通过探索自我调节理论来确定儿童早期创伤如何影响青春期的决策。通过自我调节框架，希望是确定儿童早期创伤，犯罪行为和参与少年司法系统之间的联系（如果有）。作者坚持认为，与成年人相比，青少年不仅因其大脑发育阶段而受罪较少，而且儿童早期创伤也使青少年遭受自我调节受损的风险更大，从而使青少年更有可能出现犯罪行为。