Scared Straight Program Essay - 711 Words

Crime and violence is a huge issue nationwide. Various strategies and programs have been implemented to help reduce such from occurring. Nearly half of crimes in the United States are committed by youth 10 to 17 years old. Juvenile crime increases each year at a rate double of adult crime. One way to help deter juvenile crime was the creation of the â€Å"Scared Straight Program†. Programs like Scared Straight consist of organized visits to prison facilities by juvenile delinquents or juveniles at risk of becoming delinquent or showing such behavior. During contact with the juveniles the adult inmates describe their experiences of cruel, harsh, and unpleasant conditions connected with jail or prison incarceration. The expected outcome†¦show more content†¦Seventeen juvenile offenders were followed by camera as they experienced prison life for two hours. During the duration of the show it was reported that about 8,000 juveniles had visited the prison and that 8 0% of them were reformed by the experience (Feinstein, 2005, Pg. 41). Despite this involvement of juveniles with inmates, researchers found no difference between those actually participating in the Scared Straight program and those not participating. Since then the authors of â€Å"Scared Straight† and other juvenile awareness programs for preventing juvenile delinquency did a 2002 meta-analysis of relevant research on nine such programs. It was concluded that not only does the program fail to deter crime, but it actually leads to more offending behavior. Recidivism rates were found to be higher for those exposed to Scared Straight programs than those not in the program. Other studies have also demonstrated that the program is ineffective in preventing delinquent behavior, and that there is evidence that participation in such program may actually contribute toward increased delinquency behavior. Scared Straight Programs also violate the sight and sound separation require ment of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002. A guideline provided by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention states that â€Å"the state must assure that no juvenile offender shall enter under publicShow MoreRelatedFilm Review : Scared Straight Programs Essay966 Words   |  4 Pagesjustice community. â€Å"Scared Straight programs are developed by adults for kids, but kids don’t react the same way as adults, that’s why the television series is popular with adults, but unsuccessful with kids.† says James Finckenauer, Beyond Scared Straight has also diverted public support from programs that actually work in the areas of prevention. The heavily dramatized nature of the AE series could be the reason parents desperately reach out to the Scared Straight programs despite its ineffectivenessRead MoreScared Straight, By Arnold Shapiro Documentary960 Words   |  4 Pages ‘Scared Straight’ programs were first implemented in the U.S. in the 1970’s. However, they became nationally popular in the aftermath of the 1978 Arnold Shapiro documentary Scared Straight!, in which a group of delinquents are berated by a group of convicts known as â€Å"lifers† for three hours. At the end of the film, the appropriately terrified teenagers state that they have decided that they do not want to go to jail (Lowry, 1999). Scared Straight programs allow juveniles who are criminal offendersRead MoreIf I Ran Zoo By Dr. Seuss885 Words   |  4 Pagessuggestions about changing the system if I had the power to do so. The first suggestion that I will introduce is not inside the Juvenile prison when adolescents enter into the system but before when adolescents enter the system. A program called the â€Å"Beyond Scared Straight† program was built in the 1970’s for at-risk youth (â€Å"Justice Department†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). It invites at-risk adolescents to spend a day in an adult prison where they get a tour around the facility, getting an aggressive â€Å"in-your-face† presentationsRead More Juvenile Justice Essay881 Words   |  4 Pages agencies, laws, rules, and policies having to do with juvenile delinquencyquot;(Weiner, 1987, p.12). This paper will deal with the history of the juvenile system, the need for the juvenile system, juvenile court functions, parents in court and programs that have worked, along with ones that havent. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Because the first formal juvenile court was so labeled on July 1, 1899, which would make the Juvenile Justice System nearly a century old. However, the origins of the variousRead MoreHow We See Ourselves And Our Abilities2244 Words   |  9 Pagesthat they were learning. Dweck (2006) discovered that people hold different mindsets that contribute to their human nature. This paper proposal focuses on the experiences and mindsets of juvenile delinquents that were enrolled in various Scared Straight programs throughout the United States. Its potential findings could be applicable to those who are currently or have been incarcerated in the United States prison system. Mindsets A relatively new topic in the field of psychology, a mindset, as studiedRead MoreMy Advancement of Learning - Personal Narrative Essay523 Words   |  3 Pagesfrom a little play toy in my bubble bath, apparently I cut myself on it and never liked them since. When I was a little younger than I am now I used to be so scared of the jellyfish that whenever a nature program had come on I used to be scared to watch it or even demand the television t be turned to another program. The waves were going over my head they were do high, at the time it was great fun, we were surfing on body boards and have a really good time till it happenedRead MoreDr. Cesare Beccaria As The Father Of Deterrence Theory1563 Words   |  7 PagesThere are many different policies or programs that could be created to help young children or teenagers be deterred from committing a crime. The program that I would create would be similar to the Scared Straight Program but different in a few ways. The Scared Straight program is where at risk youths go to a prison and they are confronted by the inmates. The program includes a tour of the prison and personal stories from inmates. The major point of the program is to get the kids aware of the dailyRead MoreJuvenile Delinquency and the Criminal Justice System1423 Words   |  6 Pagesparticularly in the poorer areas. The term juvenile delinquency refers to the antisocial or criminal activity under the age of 18 which violates the law. Everyone is affected by juvenile crime, parents, teachers, families and neighbors. It is essential that programs are implemented to help wit h juvenile delinquents. Although delinquency rates have decreased dramatically, the effect of delinquency still affects the victims of crime, the perpetrators and even the bystanders. There are many interventions that attemptRead MoreJuvenile Delinquents Sit At A Table Sporting Jumpsuits1686 Words   |  7 Pagesjuvenile delinquents sit at a table sporting jumpsuits that’s draped over their street clothes, not knowing what’s expected to happen next during their jail visit at the Douglas County prison in Georgia. The cameras, that are rolling for Beyond Scared Straight, a reality television series that takes at risk teenagers to different state run prisons across the United States to give them a glance of where they ll end up if they continue making wrong choices, show the confused look on the delinquents’Read MoreCreating A Safe Environment For Lgbtq Youth In Schools.1340 Words   |  6 Pageshearing jokes and expressions with homophobic expressions, than stra ight youths (Hillard, Love, Franks, Laris, Karin, Coyle, 2014, p.1). Approximately 90% of LGBTQ youth have heard phrases where the term â€Å"gay† has been used in a negative way (Hillard, Love, Franks, Laris, Karin, Coyle, 2014, p.1).The findings of a qualitative study on LGBTQ youth in Sussex, United Kingdom found LGBTQ youth experienced harassment at higher levels than straight youth (Sherriff, Hamilton, Wigmore, Giambrone 2011, p.