Abstract:
Scared Straight is a crime prevention program that targets the idea of bringing at risk youth into the prison and having them get “scared straight” by the inmates.This argument discusses the ineffectiveness of the Scared Straight program and why is should be removed from cities and towns around the United States. Scientific studies as well has personal experiences have lead researchers to the conclusion that Scared Straight and similar programs do not help but may even hurt the fight to end juvenile delinquency. Research studies will be discussed in this paper as well as an explanation behind the popular A&E television series “Beyond Scared Straight” as well as the 1978 program “Scared Straight!” This paper will support the claim that Scared Straight is not a positive program and does not assist in lowering crime rates or in helping
youth resist a life of crime.
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“Programs like 'Scared Straight' involve organized visits to prison facilities by juvenile delinquents or children at risk for becoming delinquent. The programs are designed to deter participants from future offending by providing first-hand observations of prison life and interaction with adult inmates.” (Campbell Systematic Review) These programs have good intentions, yet inherently flawed results. Programs like Scared Straight have been around for decades and, despite negative results, have withstood the sands of time. Scared Straight is glamorized on popular television and has also been proven to not only be ineffective, but may also increase the juvenile crime rate. In addition to all of these issues these programs are also cost-inefficient as well as causing some debate on their overall legality.

Research has been around since the nineteen-sixties that has proven that Scared Straight programs are not effective. According to the 1997 “What Works” study, which was reported to the US Congress, Scared Straight was listed in the “What does not work” category by more than five-hundred crime prevention evaluations. Studies show that these programs do not work because the delinquents may relate better with the criminals than they do with the officers or even their family outside of prison. These youth may feel prison is where they belong, or that it is the only place for them to fit in. Many of these young people appear very scared during their visits, and very well may be scared, but they go right back to a life of crime and violence. Researchers believe that this is due to them being engaged by their peers and their friends to prove that they weren't actually afraid of prison. Along with Scared Straight not successfully preventing crime, it may actually be increasing the crime rate. Kids and teens who go through Scared Straight and similar programs are between one and twenty-eight percent more likely to commit another crime as opposed to not doing anything towards intervention. The lack of effectiveness and the increase in crime, should by itself be grounds to remove Scared Straight programs from communities across the country. These programs do more hurt than help when it comes to the youth the programs are aiming to help.

Scared Straight is also very costly. Although out of pocket families are only paying sixty to one-hundred dollars per child to enter into the program, the government and taxpayers are paying the price for these programs when they fail. According to americanprogress.org for every one dollar spent on the program, government agencies spend more that one-hundred dollars on crime costs and paying for these kids to make it through the legal system. Those are not even the worst numbers when it comes to Scared Straight. Crime victims and taxpayers pay even more than the government does for this faulty program. For every eighty dollars spent on Scared Straight the taxpayers and victims pay an additional fourteen-thousand dollars for the reoccurring contact with juvenile and criminal justice systems, according to reclaimingfutures.org. Family and community based delinquency prevention programs save the public between five and seventy-eight thousand dollars on each youth. These savings are from not paying for their trip through the justice system, because they left their life of crime behind them.

The Scared Straight programs may have more to explain than just bad results soon. According to the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) court involved youth are prevented from being detained, confined, or having contact with adult inmates in jails and prisons. (reclaimingfutures.org) The JJDPA does not fund Scared Straight programs and says that they may be violating federal law by bringing these young adults into an adult prison setting. An Alabama sheriffs department is under investigation for running an illegal Scared Straight program. The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The problems were first brought to the attention of the FBI when security tape of an officer using excessive force on a teen during a Scared Straight program was discovered by the media. It raised more concerns when research showed that the programs similar to Scared Straight they were running we very similar to programs banned by federal and state laws. (jjie.org) The legality of this program is a major issue, considering it is a program attempting to stop crime and prevent youths from becoming career criminals.
The Scared Straight program is most well known for being the subject of A&E’s hit television show “Beyond Scared Straight.” The show follows a group of teens around the prison as they experience the Scared Straight program and interact with the inmates. The show is A&E’s number one show racking in over two million viewers for every episode. The show first premiered on January 13, 2011 and is still running today. The show is based off of the 1978 television special “Scared Straight!” This program followed seventeen teenagers who are taken
inside Rahway Maximum Security Prison. They are introduced to a group of inmates who call themselves “The Lifers.” These inmates are trying to scare the teens away from a life of crime. Follow up interviews were conducted with both the inmates and the teens involved in the “Scared Straight!” program. Most of the teens did not change. It took many of them years to realize how much they needed help. This is more proof that these programs are not successful and do not need to continue to corrupt kids.

Many people are unaware of other options for the treatment of juvenile delinquency. One great alternative is called WayOut. WayOut is a two day seminar for teens and their parents that costs roughly two hundred dollars per teen. This program decreases the crime risk by two percent and saves taxpayers ten dollars on every one dollar investment. Another option is known as Aggression Replacement Training, and is a program to help teens come over anger management issues. This program is thirty hours spent over ten weeks. This program is rather costly at nine hundred dollars per person but also decreases the crime risk by seven percent and saving taxpayers seven dollars for every one dollar investment. Pay-for-Success programs guarantee that taxpayer money only goes to programs that work. Many states, Oregon for one, require that all funding go to programs with positive research.

Scared Straight is a controversial program that brings troubled teens through prisons in an attempt to scare them into leaving a life of crime behind them. This program, although with good intentions, does not have good results. Scared Straight is not effective in reducing juvenile delinquency, and is in fact a factor in the rising crime rate across the country. The program also costs not only the government but the taxpayers and victims of these crimes large amounts of money for every dollar that is put into the program. The program is also, in some places, under investigation for the legality of the practices. Lastly, with television glorifying the Scared Straight program and life in prison as a whole, not many parents or representatives of these at risk teens know many other options to try and help these kids. Hopefully with government and private sector funding going towards other programs, soon one will come up that will finally cure the epidemic that is juvenile delinquency.

References:
Beyond "Scared Straight" – Moving to Programs that Actually Work. (2011, January 11). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://blog.reclaimingfutures.org/juvenile-justice- reform-moving-beyond-scared-straight-to-what-works
Doing What Doesn't Work. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from https:// www.americanprogress.org/issues/open-government/news/2012/02/08/11108/doing- what-doesnt-work/
(n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://www.soc.umn.edu/~uggen/Sherman_NIJ_98.pdf Petrosino, Anthony, Carolyn Turpin-Petrosino, and John Buehler. "Scared Straight and Other
Juvenile Awareness Programs for Preventing Juvenile Delinquency: A Systematic Review of the Randomized Experimental Evidence." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 589.1 (2003): 41-62. Web.
Scared Straight: Don't Believe the Hype (Facts from CJJ). (2011, January 13). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://reclaimingfutures.org/juvenile-justice-reform-scared- straight-facts-vs-hype
UPDATE: Juvenile Justice Experts Say Sheriff Using Illegal Scared Straight Program. (2011, April 6). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://jjie.org/update-sheriffs-program-may- be-illegal/