Quote Originally Posted by Alex Bragi View Post
Interesting facts for sure, Tom.

Ok, so 99% of rapes are committed by 15 -19 year-olds but do 99% of all 15 -19 year-olds commit rape? Age does not, and can not, mitigate this most heinous of crimes. We're civilised human beings not animals acting on our basic instincts, not matter what age we are.

Let me ask you this: Do you think those snotty noised little bastards would think a little longer and harder about committing rape if they knew getting caught would mean they'd, quite literally, have to pay with their balls?
Ok, you asked Tom this, but I hope it's okay if I post a few words in response to your question.

While I am in enthusiastic agreement that the crime committed is indeed an atrocity to be dealt with severely, Tom has nailed the heart of the matter to the wall yet again-- the fact that the frontal lobe in these youths has not yet developed fully does explain why they did what they did. This physiological truth doesn't justify the rape in any way. It only tells us why teens can be so uncivilized at times. After all, the basic instinct portion of the brain does develop first.

On the other hand (or hemisphere, in this case), the frontal lobe is the very last region of the brain to develop, and doesn't do so, as Tom said, until the age of 25, give or take. Like any growth pattern, for some it's a bit sooner, for others, later. (Others, maybe never? That's yet to be determined and is a-whole-nother discussion.) Anyway, since the prefrontal circuit of the frontal lobe is the brain's CEO, as it were, its responsibilities are many. This area manages emotional impulses in socially appropriate ways, including empathetic and altruistic behaviors. It organizes responses to complex problems and searches memory for relevant experience. Hence, its incompleteness in teens allows for an alarming lack of ability to behave properly in most any given social situation.

So to answer your question, no, these snotty nosed little bastards probably wouldn't think a little longer before raping, even if they knew the dire consequences (and especially not with the mob-mentality mindset these three were sporting). They wouldn't because they simply have not developed the ability to do so yet. Oh sure, they'd cry and beg for mercy if handed down a sentence of castration, because the part of the brain that processes that fearful information,the amygdala, develops in early childhood. But telling these yet-to-be-refined-frontal-lobed teens beforehand that castration would be the end result of their behavior wouldn't be much of a deterrent. In fact, most times out of 10, they'd still go ahead with the improper act. It shouldn't make sense, but given the brain information we have, it actually does.

It shouldn't absolve them of the ramifications of said acts, however, despite what a few radicals are trying to propose. It merely points out the great need to keep a close watch on what teens are doing. Even at eighteen, they just aren't ready to be cut loose and left to fend and decide for themselves. At that age, however, they are quite ready to be guided and instructed by competent and caring adults that wants to assist in training that developing brain. Sadly, that's not happening too much. I have my opinions on why that is, but no real answers.

Maybe this indifference to our youth explains why the rape video was viewed 600 times before one lone soul came along to report it. One too many generations of people erroneously believing that because a teen can drive, said youth is ready to face the world and everything in it may just be the answer to this query of yours, Alex. Maybe we aren't so apathetic to the sexual violence we come across. Maybe it's that we're a bit too indifferent (or too busy or too distracted or too unconcerned...too uninformed, perhaps?) to the developing needs of the youth in our lives, and we're allowing them to go out into the big, bad world before they're ready, despite what teens believe and what adults want to conveniently think?

Maybe. It's just a thought.