A&E’s 'Beyond Scared Straight' Puts At-Risk Kids At Risk

The cable network A&E shattered their previously held records last week when their Beyond Scared Straight series premiered to 3.7 million viewers, all interested in seeing at-risk youth berated by grown inmates in hopes of setting them on a path to productive adulthood. What the series’ producers failed to tell that audience, however, is the Scared Straight approach rarely works and may even increase a child’s chances of future criminality.

The show is an extension of a program that began decades ago, a method of juvenile crime prevention showcased in a 1978 Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentary by the same name. Scared Straight! was directed by Arnold Shapiro, who's also the prodcuer of the new A&E series. The philosophy goes something like this: take kids with attitude problems or already existing criminal histories into the adult prison system and show them what it really means to be a big, bad criminal. Let the inmates call them names, threaten them and generally bully them into reconsidering their delinquent ways.

While the thought of taking a troubled kid and “letting them have it” seems like it might have some worth on a purely disciplinary level, the Scared Straight approach has repeatedly been shown to do more harm than good. In a study by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, Scared Straight was the only one of 29 juvenile programs that was shown to actually increase the chances that a child would have future interactions with the justice system. The study is just one of many that have had similar findings: that Scared Straight can have lasting negative effects on the kids that participate in it.

One reason the program may be so ineffective could be the fact that these kids are exposed to an adult institutional setting that has been shown to be so detrimental to their wellbeing that the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) seriously limits the contact between adult and juvenile offenders; indeed, it limits that contact to such an extent that to put them together, even for rehabilitative reasons like those suggested by the producers of Beyond Scared Straight, could put a local jail or state prison at risk of losing federal funding.

Despite the research and the warnings from juvenile justice experts, Shapiro believes in his system. Either that or he can’t read the research due to the dollar signs in his eyes. “Academic studies don’t work,” Shapiro boldly asserts. “It’s all about follow up.”

States are looking for inexpensive ways to reduce juvenile crime. A resurgence in this counterproductive method of control, however, would only be a waste of money. And while A&E is no doubt happy with their viewership numbers, their ignorance to the real cost of their programming choice shows they are apathetic to the plight of these kids.

Viewers tune in, mouth agape, as they watch these kids get exposed to scenes many adults never see. They are told sometimes exaggerated and (at the very least) sensationalized versions of the crimes that led inmates there. Some of them are forced to listen to graphic descriptions of prison rape, asked if they would like it to be put in similar situations. The goal is to frighten them, to make them cry, and to make them turn their back on crime. With the popularity of reality television, however, these kids are far more likely to go home and talk about how they could “handle prison”, basking in their newfound fame then they are to abandon their old ways and friends.

The value of the Scared Straight method of juvenile control is highly questionable. The value of Beyond Scared Straight the television show, is pure Hollywood. And the cost of both is far too great. Join the Campaign for Youth Justice in calling on A&E executives to rethink their carrying of the program Beyond Scared Straight and, at the very least, offer some legitimate information to their viewership on the shortcomings of this approach.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Durfey