![]() ![]() In Shapiro’s films, 14 of the 17 kids said the experience changed them, and they vowed to stay out of prison. The director and producer, Arnold Shapiro, says the programs are helping troubled kids turn their lives around. Filmed in New Jersey’s Rahway State Prison, Scared Straight! inspired similar intervention projects across the country. It won several Emmy awards, and spurred the release of four sequels that checked in on the progress of the original 17 kids. The original Oscar-winning film Scared Straight! was a phenomenal success in theaters and on television in the late Seventies. “But I hope people will get the facts and see that the research is clear that Scared Straight is a failed program that does more harm than good.” “I will watch the program with trepidation,” says Wilson. He’s now a crime consultant to law enforcement, and serves on the editorial board for the Juvenile & Family Court Journal. Juvenile crime expert John Wilson agrees, calling Scared Straight programs “criminogenic.” He spent 28 years at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preventionin the Department of Justice, first as legal counsel, then as Deputy Administrator. ![]() Vignati lays out his case against Scared Straight in his commentary at Vignati, who also heads Justice Programs at the Governor’s Office for Children and Familiesin Georgia, warns, “It is more likely to create kids who are going to get in trouble.” Joe Vignati, the National Juvenile Justice Specialist on the Executive Board of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, says the Scared Straight approach is a waste of money. Some heavy hitters in the juvenile justice field are sounding the alarm. They point to numerous research studies that show the traditional Scared Straight style of intervention doesn’t work, and they are organizing to educate the public and policy-makers about what they believe is a bad program that may do more harm than good. Many child advocates and juvenile justice experts are alarmed to see it return. This time the show features children and prison inmates around the country. Now Scared Straight! is making a comeback as a dramatic and in-your-face weekly series on the A&E cable network in a new series called Beyond Scared Straight. The Lifers do everything they can to scare these kids into never coming back. The intimidation tactics include physical threats and descriptions of prison rape in painful and explicit detail. They push them around and get in their faces. They call the program “ Scared Straight!” For the next few hours, the Lifers will yell and curse at these kids. Their job is to scare these troubled kids away from a life of crime by showing them the reality and the horror of prison. They’re locked inside Rahway State Prison in New Jersey, with a group of inmates who call themselves the “Lifers.” These are guys doing 25 years to life for serious crimes like murder and armed robbery. Seventeen cocky teenagers are about to get a wakeup call. ![]()
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