The deputies scream in their right ear, as the inmates shriek in their left. Breaking down into tears, the troubled teenagers begin to realize they aren’t as tough as they thought.
In the late 1970s, network television aired the documentary Scared Straight. Twenty years later the sequel Beyond Scared Straight was released on the cable channel A&E. The premise of the original documentary and the A&E sequel was to scare teenagers out of their troublesome ways by letting them experience first hand the horrors of real incarceration. Actual inmates attempt to break them by getting in their face, spitting and cursing. After the harsh reality, the inmates soften up and have a touching conversation with the teens to try to reach them by sharing their own traumatic tales.
Although the show looks cruel and unforgiving, the teenagers seem to show regret for their previous actions and claim to be thankful to their parents for the experience.
“I would put my son on that show without a doubt,” gym coach Harlan Graham said. “I don’t believe in all the cursing, but it is reality, whatever it takes to steer these kids in the right direction.”
The National Juvenile Justice Network reports that there has been a drop of kids in lock-up of more than 40 percent from a record high in 2000. The program may not deserve any credit, however, the nation is seeing a decline in youth incarceration.
“There is no evidence to show that Scared Straight programming is effective and there is some evidence to suggest that it may, in fact, be harmful. In fact, Scared Straight perpetuates the myth that by being tough we are preventing crime when this very interaction may actually increase the potential for future criminal behavior.” Joe Vignati, the Assistant Deputy Commissioner for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice said. Despite the appearance of a happy ending, decades worth of research have shown that the Scared Straight programs have not been a positive influence on most of the teens involved.
A Cochrane Collaboration Review reveals that the kids on the TV series are 68 to 71 percent more likely to commit the same crime or an even worse crime than kids who have not received any intervention.
Studies prove and critics insist that Beyond Scared Straight is hardly helpful in reducing juvenile delinquency. It may be entertaining and somewhat humorous, but it is not policy.
Juvenile justice policy is often set by the states. In Georgia, lawmakers set out to see how the state dealt with juvenile offenders by analyzing past alternative programs that have kept most kids out of long-term lock-up completely, As a result the state legislature passed a new Juvenile Justice Code.
The new Code focuses on keeping low-level offenders out of state detention facilities, and instead puts into place an array of community-based alternative programs to keep juveniles out of jail. It is a policy that was set in motion when Gov. Nathan Deal signed the Juvenile Justice Reform Bill on May 2, 2013.
Gov. Deal is hopeful the bill will save the state $85 million over the next five years. According to the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, the state spends upwards of $90,000 a year to house a single youth in a detention center. Supporters of the bill say that this is one of the reasons for the Legislature’s cooperation throughout the process.
Despite the decades of research showing its negative impacts and the steps taken by Georgia to keep juveniles out of prison, A&E still aired a seventh season of Beyond Scared Straight.
