“Another Look at Scared Straight” by Sheryl Feinstein from the Journal of Correctional Education is a study done looking at the impact of adult prisoner presentations on juvenile delinquents using twenty-four male juvenile delinquents in a detention facility. Two male adult prisoners accompanied by a guard visited the twenty-four juvenile delinquents and spoke about their life before prison, and their life in prison.

Feinstein notes that according to the large amount of research done, scared straight programs aimed at youth at-risk of becoming delinquent has little positive impact on youth and even produce higher recidivism rates among the youth. While Feinstein understands scared straight programs are not preventative for at-risk youth, she is interested in the impact of adult prisoner presentations (commonly used in scared straight programs) on juvenile delinquents that are currently held in a juvenile correctional facility.

Feinstein had the twenty-four male juvenile delinquents complete a survey to collect their opinions and beliefs after they had attended the adult male prisoners presentation. After collecting the data, Feinstein used cross tabulation to look at the impact of the presentation on the youths’ thoughts on drugs, alcohol, gangs, fighting, authority defiance, and living on the streets.

Of the topics presented through the adult prisoners presentation, drugs and alcohol had the most impact on the juvenile delinquents. In total, 55% of the juvenile delinquents believed this presentation would prevent them from going to prison. As Feinstein notes, that while this study only looks at the short-term affects of adult prisoner presentations on juvenile delinquents the presentation may have only had a short-term effect on the youth. Feinstein concludes, that while scared straight programs may only prevent crime for a period of time after the program, it is important that more research should be done with scared straight programs on at-risk youth and juvenile delinquents.

This research is interesting since it is one of the few studies that looks purely at short-term impact of scared straight programs on juvenile delinquents currently in a juvenile correctional facility. While this is a study unlike others it is also interesting that it suggests that perhaps scared straight programs for both at-risk youth and juvenile delinquents are useful for deterring crime rather than preventing it, an interesting view about a program that is continually criticized for its long term impact.

“Another Look at Scared Straight”
By Sheryl Feinstein

Journal of Correctional Education (1974-), Vol. 56, No. 1 (March 2005)

http://0-www.jstor.org.books.redlands.edu/stable/23282782