February 2, 2011 | 12:17 PM | By

DOJ: Kids can’t be scared straight

FILED UNDER: Corrections, Arts&Culture, Beyond Scared Straight, US Department of Justice

Inmate to kid: "I'll fold you like a piece of paper."

In response to the wildly popular new A&E series, “Beyond Scared Straight,” two administrators at the Department of Justice published an editorial in the Baltimore Sun earlier this week. “Beyond Scared Straight” basically follows a group of kids as they’re taken on elaborate tours of state prisons and are cajoled and intimidated by inmates. The editorial’s authors, Laurie O. Robinson and Jeff Slowikowski, say that there’s nothing productive about exposing kids to harassment. Kids, they say, cannot be scared straight:

“Unfortunately, the research tells us otherwise: “scared straight” is not only ineffective but is potentially harmful. And it may run counter to the law.

Anthony Petrosino and a team of researchers from the Campbell Collaboration, an international research network, analyzed the findings from evaluations of nine scared straight-type programs. In contrast to the claims of proponents, Mr. Petrosino and his colleagues found that these programs did not deter teenage participants from offending; in fact, they were more likely to offend in the future. Across the evaluated programs, participants were up to 28 percent more likely to offend than youths who didn’t participate. To add insult to injury, a number of youths reported to evaluators that adult inmates sexually propositioned them and tried to steal their belongings. Not only was scared straight found not to deter criminal behavior, the study strongly suggested the program caused harm.

The fact that these types of programs are still being touted as effective, despite stark evidence to the contrary, is troubling.”

The DOJ, they go on, does not support such programs and states that use them may be jeopardizing their funding under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. That law, in part, asks states to focus on prevention programs with research-proven positive results. Instead of things that make for good tv, the authors recommend, states should focus on things that are proven to work, which happen to be on the polar opposite of yelling at and threatening kids: like mentoring programs.

  • Hugo

    I was able to see the documentary on the scared strait program that is in the womens prison.
    First I want to give you a little history about myself, I went to prison at age 18 and spent 28 years of a 15 to life sentence, I have been out since 2009.
    Myself and 10 other convicts started a C.R.O.P. (convicts reaching out to people), a youth diversion program in 2000 at a level 4 prison in Lancaster ca..(It is still on going in a prison that has the one and only Honor Program in the cdcr, and to this date no riots or major disturbances since it’s inception in 2001)
    We never disrespected these young people never got in their face and yelled at them. We always speak honestly and openly about , respect&responsibility, gangs, drugs, choices and prison life. Using our past histories as examples and we try to make them use their own critical thinking tools by asking them to question some of the activities they get themselves involved in.
    I have been fortunate to see how this program has effected the youth that came to CROP after my release. And the in your-face programs do more harm then good, just look at the report on follow up that was done for the youth that went through the first scared strait programs of the ’70′s. And it did nothing for those young people. And just think about this, if your a young ganbanger or criminal, this would only make you see that your violent behavior can only be corrected with threatening behavior? That is crap!!!

    HUGO