NCJ Number
233997
Date Published
November 2003
Length
62 pages
Annotation
This report examines juvenile awareness programs, such as scared straight, for use in preventing juvenile delinquency.
Abstract
The authors of this report found that juvenile awareness programs such as scared straight are more likely to result in harmful effects for juveniles and increased delinquency rates relative to doing nothing at all for the same group of juveniles. The authors note that if juvenile justice agencies choose to use these types of programs, then the programs must be rigorously evaluated to ensure that they are effective in their purpose, preventing crime, and not doing more harm than good. This report evaluates the use of scared straight, and other juvenile awareness programs, for preventing juvenile delinquency. These programs consist of organized visits to prisons by juvenile delinquents or predelinquents for the purpose of deterring them from criminal activity by allowing them first-hand observation of prison life and interaction with adult inmates. Nine trials that examined the effects of these programs were included in the study. Data were collected on post-intervention offending rates using meta-analysis strategies. The analyses found that the interventions proved to be more harmful to the juveniles than doing nothing at all. Tables, figures, appendixes, and references