January 13, 2011
Scared Straight: Don’t Believe the Hype (Facts from CJJ)
First introduced in the 1970s as a “hard-hitting” way to prevent juvenile delinquency, Scared Straight programs became popular before being thoroughly evaluated. Three subsequent decades of research show that programs premised on Scared Straight approaches are ineffective, counterproductive and costly.
Scared Straight: Don’t Believe the Hype (Facts from CJJ)
[The following fact sheet was released by the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) in response to the A&E television network's decision to air "Beyond 'Scared Straight,'" a reality TV show about teens being yelled at and shamed by adult prison inmates in an attempt to scare them "straight." Don't miss CJJ's position statement here, and an editorial from Laura Nissen, "Beyond 'Scared Straight' – Moving to Programs that Actually Work," --Ed.]
First introduced in the 1970s as a “hard-hitting” way to prevent juvenile delinquency, Scared Straight programs became popular before being thoroughly evaluated. Three subsequent decades of research show that programs premised on Scared Straight approaches are ineffective, counterproductive and costly.- Scared Straight is not an effective crime prevention strategy. Randomized trials in the United States, including an analysis of the original New Jersey Scared Straight program, reveal no effect on the delinquent/criminal behavior of participants who went through the program when compared with those who did not.[1] More explicitly, a comprehensive “What Works” report to the U.S. Congress in 1997 of more than 500 crime prevention evaluations listed Scared Straight under “what does not work.”[2]
- Scared Straight has been shown to lead to increased offending: Scared Straight programs not only fail to deter crime, but have been shown to result in increased juvenile offending when compared with no intervention.[3] Research shows that Scared Straight-type interventions increase delinquent outcomes by 1% to 28%. Youth who went through such programs had higher rates of re-offending than youth who did not go through the programs.[4]
- Scared Straight is cost-inefficient: Scared Straight style programs typically cost less than $100 per child. Yet, research by the Washington State Institute on Public Policy found that for every $80 spent on such programs, taxpayers and crime victims pay an additional $14,000 associated with youths’ recurring contact with the juvenile and criminal justice systems. On the plus side, family/community-connected delinquency prevention strategies have been show to save the public between $5,000 and $78,000 per youth and avoid costs for court services, policing and care of victims.[5]
- Scared Straight programs may cause state and local violations of federal law and regulations. The federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) prohibits court-involved youth from being detained, confined or otherwise having contact with adult inmates in jails and prisons.[6] In keeping with the JJDPA, and supported by research, the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the U.S. Department of Justice does not fund Scared Straight programs, and cites such programs as potential violations of federal law.
- Policymakers and delinquency prevention practitioners must spend limited public monies wisely Even when programs operate with good intentions, public officials, practitioners and providers must be diligent in their efforts to evaluate services and treatment provided to youth to ensure that public resources are used in ways that are effective; helpful not harmful; and truly lead to lasting community safety.[7]
For more information, email Tara Andrews, or phone her at 202-467-0864, ext. 109. You can also join CJJ on Facebook.
[Editor's Update August 2011: in spite of overwhelming research evidence and opposition from juvenile judges, federal officials, and juvenile justice experts, A&E Television is airing a new series of episodes of Beyond 'Scared Straight.']
Tara Andrews serves as the Deputy Executive Director for the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ). Idit Knaan is a Program associate at CJJ.
[1] “Scared Straight Programs: Jail and Detention Tours,” Anthony J. Schembri, Secretary Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, pg. 4.
[2] Sherman, L.W., Gottfredson, D, MacKenzie, D.L., Eck, J., Reuter, P., Bushway, S. (1997). “Preventing Crime: What works, what doesn’t, what’s promising. A report to the United States Congress.” College Park, MD: University of Maryland, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
[3] Petrosino Anthony, Carolyn Turpin-Petrosino, and John Buehler. “‘Scared Straight’ and other juvenile awareness programs for preventing juvenile delinquency” (Updated C2 Review). The Campbell Collaboration Reviews of Intervention and Policy Evaluations (C2-RIPE), November, 2003. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Campbell Collaboration. See also “Scared Straight Programs: Jail and Detention Tours,” Anthony J. Schembri, Secretary Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (2006).
[4] “Scared Straight Programs: Jail and Detention Tours,” Anthony J. Schembri, Secretary Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, pg. 6.
[5] Washington State Institute for Public Policy. “Evidence-based Juvenile Offender Programs: Program Description, Quality Assurance, and Cost,” June 2007.
[6] Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93-415, 88 Stat. 1109 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 5601 et seq. (2002)), § 223(a)(12) and § 223(a)(13).
[7] “Scared Straight Programs: Jail and Detention Tours,” Anthony J. Schembri, Secretary Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, pg. 10.
This concerns ALL of us,
In regards to the show "Scared Straight" I recently watched a Segment and have some possibly Major National Changes in the future of our children of the future and even the people today. I have ideas and these are not compleete "yet". Please read till the end if you have any questions please contact me @ rshinn@gmx.com I want to help. Thank You.
Take the cameras out of the picture and this concept of "Scaring kids Straight" WILL work. When the drama is displayed on T.V. it becomes a "TRUE REAL LIFE LESSON" instead of an exploited MESS. Trust me I know. Kids at school after they see the show aren't intimidated about not ending up in places like Jail or Institutions in most cases. It becomes an "oh cool you were on that show, I would have been harder than you" before long they are back where they started Exploited for their 15 minutes of fame.
Have cameras.. but "at times" that dosent mean you cant utalize cameras on site (Jailhouse Cameras, Hidden Camera's but only for safety not Exploiting the issue. If we use Mini cams that the Inmates dont know about, It takes away the fakeness (trust me kids can see through that why do you think they are giggleing or laughing)... the idea Again being to "Scare them Straiht-Make a deeprooted impression that will work on a compleetley different level. plus Inmates get distracted or could utalize the show as a form of communication with the outside world.
Now I realize funding without "Shows" an issue. Funding should come from our individual cities and School Budjets the Jail is happy to do these things for free with the exception of Secutity Budjets. This could be tested and perfected. Use the Inmates that want to shave time (good Idea) Intimitate's like 1 of "Scared Straights" Inmate Diablo or the inmates that are in Prison/Jail for the SAME situations that the "off course Kids" are doing (another great idea that was on the show).
After this concept is perfected it could be then Integrated into our Schools systems as forms of punishment when Detention isn't enough. If we dont utalize a similar form of "scaring kids straight" Our Nation's future, our childrens future will just continue down the same path. It should be MANDATORY for those Problom kids at "young ages" (when ever they become a problom, could be as young as 5yrs old thats when they learn these systems) to go through a form of this type of therapy before they are tainted so far that there is no turning back and they are out there killing and robbing YOu or your family members.
Without the cameras; I realize the ups and downs to this method. Yes there wont be documentation for accidents or security issues. Exploiting the same kids your trying to help might only make things worse ie:Gangland. Now it's cool to be in the Fiercest gang around. Exploiting the problom dosent help. It's Wrong for us to get our daily dose of drama out of the future people that could run this country... or run it into the ground., we should be ashamed of ourselves for liking the shows for "dramatic Entertainment" those people that are SO GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO ARE REASONS WE SPEND SOO MUCH $ ON Policing the issues and other $ used in our budgets that could be channeled into the Foundation of the issue at hand here...
even though the concept of the shows may have the right "Intentions" The creators must admit that they get caught up in the Drama and finacial feul.It has to be real...Not a Show, this is a REAL LIFE problem.
Please contact me so we can make this a better world.
Ryan Shinn 720-385-9333
Ryan - We certainly agree that exploiting youth in trouble for entertainment purposes is a bad idea. And I can see why you'd suggest, therefore, that taking the TV camera out of "Scared Straight" programs would make them successful.
Unfortunately, the many research studies we cite that show that "Scared Straight" is ineffective and harmful were done on programs that were not televised. In other words, I'm afraid, the idea that "Scared Straight" is effective under any circumstances -- TV camera or not -- is incorrect.
Behind your point about integrating programs like this into schools systems, I got the impression you believe that youth crime is getting worse. According to the FBI, juvenile crime overall is down over 20% between 2000 and 2009. (The only exceptions where there was a positive trend, were robberies and prostitution.) Just so you know ...
Busted--
Angelo, from the original NJ movie:
Thursday, January 28, 2010
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Guilty_plea_closes_18-year-old_murder_case.html
He and the victim were 19 at the time. They were a year ahead of me in HS.
Editor's note: I held back steverino's comment, submitted on Jan. 23, because I was waiting for third-party corroboration of his statement that Angelo, one of the original graduates of "Scared Straight" in 1978, had been recently arrested for a murder committed in 1982.
This story was confirmed Feb. 1 by the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange - you can find it here.
Thanks for posting this info, it needs to be more widely known that this is a totally ineffective and wasteful way to work with kids. It seems that people still have a superficial idea that this would help kids who are getting in trouble. Maybe you can get John Stewart to skewer the new series on the Daily Show and draw attention to the need for positive strategies.
Thanks, Cindy. Given that the show's producer seems just fine dismissing the research without having read it (http://www.youthtoday.org/view_article.cfm?article_id=4566), we might be better off going the John Stewart route ...
You think that proves the programs do more harm than good? So AA makes people drink more? Open your mind, brother.
Are you saying psychologically abusing children that have a violent/criminal background/upbringing is a good idea?
I have a 13yr old niece that can't stop fighting her mother, grandmother, and various other kid's in the 'hood where she lives in New Jersey. She also has some running away issues and has been sexually assaulted by a neighborhood boy (he has been locked up thanks to her). She won't listen to anyone because she wants to do what she wants to do. She hangs with a troubled group that she calls her friends but honestly they keep her around to watch her get her get abused by other kids (all forms of abuse). She's very angry and troubled. I want to put her in some program that could straighten her act up. I thought of a boot camp program or a juvenile housing program (in MI we called it "the bridge"), but I really want input and advice on what other people recommend, especially if the scared straight program DOESN'T work.
Nik,
As mentioned in the post above, research shows that Scared Straight programs often cause more harm to troubled teens than help them.
There is a 211 service in Michigan, which is a phone number, similar to 911, that can be called in order to help you locate local services to address the issues you are facing.