Alexia Gaines

December 3, 2015
Kids Who Kill
Response 10: Hillcrest & Final Reflection
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Hillcrest. Leading up to our visit, I was
really nervous about visiting the correctional facility. Ive never done a
prison visit before, or anything slightly related, so I had no idea what to
expect or what it would be like. However, I was pleasantly surprised! It feels
weird to say, but I had fun going to Hillcrest and meeting some of the
delinquents who are currently living there. I think that there is an overall
thought that teens and juveniles in jail and correctional facilities are
something other. Im not sure what that other is, but for some reason
you expect them to be different in some way, much like people expect
celebrities and athletes to be before meeting them. It was nice to see that
they were just people with whom I could laugh and talk with. But thats not
to say that they should be excused from experience some type of
repercussion from whatever offense they committed.
Regarding the overall nature of people, I dont believe people are born
innately good. On the other hand, I dont believe that people are born evil,
psychopathic killers that have only managed to restrain themselves with the
creation of societal rules and norms. People are selfish, moody, self-serving,
and overall pretty self-righteous. However, they are also capable of pretty
amazing things. I believe its absolutely ridiculous to blame someones
actions completely on their biology and brain.

People have free will. The idea of determinism, or that our brain and
body responses decided everything for us by leaving only one possible
choice, is , dare I say it at the risk of sounding belligerent, stupid. Until my
body starts walking when I tell it to sit, or punching people in the face when I
want to give them a high-five, Im never going to agree with determinist
philosophers. A conscious desire or urge doesnt automatically happen all
the time. For the most part, there is a mental assent or dissent that occurs.
At the very least, we have free wont as physiologist Benjamin Libet cites in
our reading. Even still, that is technical free will since we are consciously
choosing whether or not to engage in certain acts.
While at least being neutral/slightly positive towards Libets theory, I
completely agree with Satel and Lilienfelds perspective about our thought
processes and actions: it is a mix of automatic and analytic. Yes, sometimes
our brain urges our bodies to do things, and other times we urge our brains
to do things with our bodies. But that urge doesnt directly translate to an
action without thought or consideration, barring mental disorders (like OCD
or schizophrenia) or physical disorders.
Therefore, I dont believe people should just be excused from being
prosecuted for an offense because they decided to do something wrong.
However, at the same time, I dont believe juveniles should be locked up and
the key thrown away. While some kids are cold, cruel, possibly psychopathic
killers, there are still many kids whose surroundings heavily influence their
behavior. These surroundings can influence them to commit horrible acts. It

is true that they should suffer some form of punishment. However, the
process shouldnt be stopped there. Retribution is only the first step in
rehabilitation. And if juvenile killers are rehabilitated, many of them could
return to society and have very successful and helpful lives. The ones who
can do so shouldnt be pushed aside just because some juvenile killers
cannot be rehabilitated.