There's not been a lot of extensive research into the impact of laws making it easier to try kids as adults. But the studies that do exist indicate that the get tough approach has had little or no effect on the rate of juvenile crime. Moreover, these studies show that trying juveniles in adult criminal court may actually result in higher rates of reoffending.

More and more teens now are doing time alongside adults in prison. This represents society's recent shift toward taking a harsher view of adolescents' culpability. Here's a synopsis of America's attitude and approaches over the past 100 years in dealing with juveniles who commit serious crimes.

On juvenile violent crime, racial disparities, and the number of adolescents tried and sentenced as adults.

This chart outlines the different philosophies and procedures in the juvenile justice system compared to the adult criminal justice system.

Almost every state has legislative provisions for trying some juvenile offenders in adult court. Here's a rundown.