Slender Man Case Study

In the 'Slender Man ' case, I believe that the two 12-year old girls are not competent to stand trial for attempted murder. In order to determine an adolescent’s competence to stand trial, their developmental immaturity, intellectual disability, and mental illness should be evaluated (Bath & Gerring, 2014). However, it is important to remember that these factors do not immediately rule that an adolescent is incompetent; it is the presence of one of these factors that can increase that possibility (Bath & Gerring, 2014). In this case, two 12-year old girls lured their friend into the wood to murder her in honor of ‘Slender Man’, a mythological character. Both these girls have demonstrated deficits in their development neurologically, intellectually, emotionally, and psychosocially (Scott & Grisso, 2004). At age 12, it is evident that the prefrontal cortex is severely underdeveloped which causes impairment in the decision-making skills and regulation skills (Scott & Grisso, 2004). In fact, the prefrontal cortex is responsible to elicit appropriate responses. These girls made a decision to murder the victim because they wanted to be with ‘Slender Man’. Research has indicated that youth are deemed neurologically immature due to their unstable brains during early to mid-adolescence (Scott & Grisso, 2004). Although they have planned different ways to kill the victim, these girls did not think about the possible consequences that their heinous actions would cost them. Both these