Scared Straight — Juvenile Awareness Project
Rahway State Prison / Rutgers University · New Jersey, USA · 1976
Summary
Scared Straight is one of the most important cautionary tales in social policy evaluation. The program was widely adopted across the United States in the late 1970s and 1980s, depicted in award-winning documentary film, and intuitively appealing — surely, the thinking went, showing juveniles what prison is really like would deter them. Rigorous evaluation found the opposite: youth who participated in Scared Straight programs were re-arrested at higher rates than controls. The likely mechanism is iatrogenic: group exposure to prison culture and inmate networks may have increased criminal identity and social connections to crime. The systematic review of 9 RCTs by Petrosino and colleagues became a landmark in the evidence-based policy movement — not because it found a positive effect, but because it documented clearly that a widely-used, government-funded program was actively making things worse. The lesson is fundamental: good intentions and intuitive plausibility are not substitutes for evidence.
Research question
"Does exposing juvenile delinquents to graphic confrontations with incarcerated adults — depicting the realities of prison life — deter future criminal behavior?"
Methodology
Intervention
Juvenile offenders (primarily first- or minor-offense youth) brought to Rahway State Prison for 3-hour sessions in which inmates aggressively confronted them about prison violence, sexual assault, and degradation. Inmates delivered scripted but intense warnings intended to frighten juveniles into law-abiding behavior. Program depicted positively in 1978 Academy Award-winning documentary.
Assignment
Randomized controlled trials across multiple programs; Petrosino et al. (2003) systematic review identified 9 RCTs across US programs; meta-analysis of pooled results
Sample size
Pooled: approximately 946 youth across 9 trials
Primary outcome
Re-arrest rates at 6–12 month follow-up
Effect estimate
Scared Straight programs produced a 13% increase in re-arrest rates compared to controls (pooled RCT estimate); individual studies ranged from −3% to +28% on re-arrest; no study found significant positive effect
Decision
US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention officially designated Scared Straight as a harmful program; California banned state funding; most state programs discontinued; systematic review used by Campbell Collaboration as a benchmark case for why program adoption without rigorous evaluation is dangerous
Result
Negative
Scared Straight programs produced a 13% increase in re-arrest rates compared to controls (pooled RCT estimate); individual studies ranged from −3% to +28% on re-arrest; no study found significant positive effect
Evidence strength
Strong
Randomized trial, replicated across multiple sites or studies.
Replication status
Replicated
Institution
Rahway State Prison / Rutgers University
Location
New Jersey, USA
Year
1976
Policy area
Public Safety
Mechanism
Information