ABSTRACT
Juveniles convicted of murder and sentenced to the adult maximum of life face multiple challenges. Among them is that they must transition into adulthood while in an incarcerated state. Based on a group of juvenile lifers whom I have been able to observe over a nearly 40-year period, I summarize reasons for their prosocial development and then their subsequent status as successfully paroled. They were younger than 16 at the time of offense. The institutional, as well as the personal, are related to how juvenile lifers might reach adulthood as defined by prosocial pursuits. A relatively low minimum sentence enabled a segment of lifers to have the sort of hope that is deemed important to discretionary release. A larger cohort consisting of 164 juvenile lifers (13, 14, and 15 years old) reveals that all but three were at one time paroled, and more than 80% of them did not recidivate post release. Further research is needed into how state correctional systems should consider the unique developmental status of juvenile lifers.
