NCJ Number
176506
Date Published
1999
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This film examines the outcome of a 20-year-old program in which prison inmates attempt to convince a group of teenagers in trouble with the law to abandon crime and build better lives for themselves.
Abstract
In 1978, 17 teenage lawbreakers were taken inside Rahway, a maximum-security prison in New Jersey. A group of hardened convicts called "The Lifers" tried, with explicit language and "in your face" tactics, to literally scare the kids into going straight by showing them what life behind bars was really like. The film "Scared Straight!" which documented the experience, won an Academy Award, eight Emmys and a Peabody award. This video contains the original film, interviews with some of the participants 10 years after the film was made, and current interviews with some of the kids and some of the inmates to see what became of them. Only one of the 17 kids in the original group became a career criminal. The Lifers program is still going strong and has expanded to include one-on-one meetings between inmates and youngsters who need extra help. To purchase a copy of the video, call 1-800-367-2467