Beyond Scared Straight is a television series that aired on A&E from January 13, 2011 to September 3, 2015 running for 9 seasons. The series follows troubled teenagers who spend a single day touring a jail or prison to learn from the inmates about the realities of being incarcerated.[1] The series was inspired by the Academy Award-winning 1978 American documentary Scared Straight!. The series was executive produced by the original film's director Arnold Shapiro and by fellow executive producer Paul Coyne.
In June 2015, the network announced that the series would end after season 9, which concluded September 3, 2015.[2]
Summary
Based on the 1978 American documentary Scared Straight!, this series highlights juvenile crime prevention programs in prisons and jails throughout the United States. Each hour-long episode focuses on several at-risk teenagers. Throughout the series, these teens face intense confrontations from both law enforcement and inmates.
Each episode starts with individual interviews, where the teens discuss the reasons behind their habitual misconduct. Following this, they undergo the booking process, which includes removing jewelry, belts, hats, sunglasses, and other personal items. In certain episodes, the teens are required to wear prison jumpsuits.
They then experience life inside prison: visiting cell blocks, interacting with inmates, and eating prison meals. They also hear firsthand stories from inmates about their journeys to incarceration. An emotional segment lets the teens communicate with their parents via the prison visitor telephone system.
The episode concludes with a one-month follow-up, providing viewers with updates on the teens' paths. Some have managed to turn their lives around, while others remain on a troubled course.
At the Valley State Prison, the female prisoners intimidate five girls who are behind bars. The teens are confronted by aggressive murderers and threatened with a weekend stay.
At the Maryland Correctional Institution, inmates including convicted murderers teach five teens the deadly, brutal, and unfair realities of prison life. During the tour, a teen snitches on a prisoner causing the prisoner to lunge at the teen forcing guards to subdue him.
Six teens visit the Lieber Correctional Facility in South Carolina.
5
"San Quentin"
February 10, 2011 (2011-02-10)
104
A group of boys goes inside one of the nation's most infamous prisons. They are taunted by cellblocks of inmates and even stand outside the death row area.
6
"Hagerstown"
February 24, 2011 (2011-02-24)
105
At a Maryland prison, the inmates give the teens a taste of reality in prison by showing them the “Lock-up Loaf,” a brick of baked mush served to unruly prisoners.
7
"Jessup Women's Prison"
March 3, 2011 (2011-03-03)
106
At the Maryland Correctional Institution, four shoplifting friends have the opportunity to learn the tough life of prison. The visit reaches its greatest emotional impact when one girl bravely reveals a dark secret.
A group of at-risk teens is taken to jail. A defiant teen goes head-to-head with terrifying inmates and one of the toughest female jail deputies Beyond Scared Straight has come across – Sgt. Garrett. When he finally refuses to follow an order, Sgt. Garrett makes it her mission to break him down.
The deputies and inmates who run "Turn-Around" program are tough. They are physical, vocal and in-your-face. They may have met their match in a drug-dealing teen who proves himself with his fists.
The at-risk teens aren't afraid to fight back when confronted with a loud cellblock One gets into a screaming match with a verbally abusive inmate while another teen, who answers teasing with violence, insults another inmate and is pulled screaming into his cell.
Angry, impressionable teens are being pulled into the gangster lifestyle. For two pairs of at-risk girls who an intervention program, jail seems to be no scarier than the streets. When one of them is pushed to there breaking point, she physically assaults a deputy.
For four teens that begin an intervention program, neither the deputies nor inmates seem to make an impact. A drug-dealer threatens a deputy and a thief spits on an inmate.
A teenaged female gang member defies inmates and deputies, leading to a physical confrontation in the chow hall.
9
"Western Tidewater Regional Jail, VA"
December 29, 2011 (2011-12-29)
211
Drug using siblings visit a notorious jail and see the deadly realities of behind bars. One of them is snatched up into a closet by an inmate and threatened, the other one learns that good looks get you nowhere inside.
A teen trio of female troublemakers discovers their bond is not tight enough to survive even a day inside a women's lockup.
12
"Hampton Roads Regional Jail, VA"
January 19, 2012 (2012-01-19)
212
A teenage pyromaniac discovers that he wouldn't survive behind bars, even though his mother is one of the deputies at the jail.
Season 3 (2012–13)
No.
Title
Original release date
Prod. code
1
"Boston, MA (Girls)"
August 20, 2012 (2012-08-20)
302
In a city where your neighborhood defines your gang, four at-risk teen girls endure a day in a female jail and learn where their lives are headed. Though they walk into the jail together, the teens will turn on one of their own
2
"Jacksonville, FL (Boys)"
August 27, 2012 (2012-08-27)
305
Four at-risk teens attend a three-part "scared straight" tour. A large 15-year-old, is intimidated by no one. But when he witnesses his pint-sized little brother suffering the terrifying consequences of trying to imitate him, he breaks down. Also a white, self-proclaimed racist, endures the wrath of the black inmate population.
Troubled teens that attend a diversion program take a lie detector test that reveals some shocking secrets. Inmates "Ice Mike" and "Hustle Man" return from last season to confront a BMX-riding stoner, a fearless gangster, a terrorizing bully, and a promiscuous under age girl who just doesn't say no to older boys and her paralyzed mom can't stop her.
4
"Hudson County, NJ"
October 11, 2012 (2012-10-11)
213
Near the Jersey Shore, four cocky at-risk teens try to charm their way through a harrowing day in a New Jersey jail; one of them reunites with their father; gunshots ring out sending everyone to the ground.
Four at-risk teens are confronted by gang members and their own emotions while touring the county jail. Inmate Tiny from last season and a hardened female inmate who is an avowed member of the Aryan Brotherhood zeroes in on each teen, regardless of race, describing a vivid and terrifying portrait of what she's capable of doing to all of them.
6
"San Bernardino, CA"
October 25, 2012 (2012-10-25)
301
Parents are losing control of their teens.
7
"Lake County, FL"
November 1, 2012 (2012-11-01)
216
Troubled teens find little to do but act out and break the law. a beautiful manipulator, who uses her looks to get what she wants and an angry thug who gets into physical fights with school officials and family members discover that in jail it doesn't matter who you think you are on the outside.
8
"Fulton County, GA"
November 8, 2012 (2012-11-08)
215
Four at-risk teens are given a wide-eyed view of the justice system, from having to clean toilets in a cellblock to being interrogated by a judge
9
"Hampton Roads, VA"
November 15, 2012 (2012-11-15)
306
During a "scared straight" tour, a money-hungry teen drug dealer named R.J. refuses to be scared and lunges at a taunting inmate until officers subdue him
10
"Richland County, SC"
December 20, 2012 (2012-12-20)
311
A mother of 3 troubled teens from Dallas, Texas drives 1,000 miles to enter them in the overnight program.
11
"Oneida County, NY"
December 27, 2012 (2012-12-27)
309
One of a trio of teen hoodlums is made a brutal example in a restraint chair and officers cuff an explosive bully before he even enters the jail.
12
"Oklahoma County, OK"
January 3, 2013 (2013-01-03)
316
A spoiled drama queen thinks the tour is just a TV show populated with actors, but she is shocked by the reality of hardened criminals directing her every move.
13
"Floyd County, GA"
January 10, 2013 (2013-01-10)
313
An angry teen's cancer-stricken father hopes a trip to jail will change his son's destructive ways before it's too late.
14
"Portsmouth County, VA"
January 17, 2013 (2013-01-17)
307
An at-risk teen, with dreams of a rap career, gets a wake-up call when he sees where his love of drugs and gang activity will lead to during a visit.
15
"Western Tidewater, VA"
January 24, 2013 (2013-01-24)
310
A bad attitude may be one promiscuous teen girl's biggest weapon, but when she has to share a cell with her inmate cousin she finds out family ties do not bind behind bars.
16
"Suffolk County, MA (Boys)"
January 31, 2013 (2013-01-31)
303
Fresh from the hood, teens face rival gang members whose local loyalties persist behind bars, when they tour.
17
"Follow-Up Special"
February 7, 2013 (2013-02-07)
406
This follow up special goes back on the last few seasons to see if the teens turned their life around.
Season 4 (2013)
No.
Title
Original release date
Prod. code
1
"Oneida, NY"
May 30, 2013 (2013-05-30)
403
Four troubled girls learn that the trauma they put their mothers through at home is nothing compared to the terror of life behind bars.
Colorful Deputy Lyle returns to change the lives of four troubled teens, though he may have finally met his match in one teen who threatens to put Lyle in his place.
Four teens think that the reputations they've built for themselves on the streets will protect them from an inmate onslaught behind bars. One teen is targeted by gang members and changing his ways may be the only thing to save his life.
During a physically exhausting all-night jail stay in jail Aaron, 12, a habitual liar, confounds deputies by excelling at every exercise--despite having a broken arm.
For the first time, a violent teen featured on a previous "Beyond Scared Straight" episode is now a submissive inmate hoping to change the lives of a new group of teens.
A visit to the "alternative lifestyle" unit shows four at-risk teens that being different makes you an even bigger target in jail. One brother squeals on his younger sibling, leading one of them to be taken away in cuffs.
6
"Charlotte County, FL"
November 7, 2013 (2013-11-07)
TBA
A high-school football player wants to join the SWAT team after graduation, but drugs and fighting are leading him straight to "the longest yard."
7
"St. Clair, IL"
November 14, 2013 (2013-11-14)
TBA
A troubled teen disappears into a crush of angry inmates as deputies and his loyal, street-tough brother try to figure out where he has gone.
8
"Dougherty County, GA"
November 21, 2013 (2013-11-21)
TBA
An explosive fighter and thief, taunts Georgia deputies and inmates by wearing a homemade t-shirt that mocks efforts to scare him straight.
In Virginia, chaos takes over and officers spring into action when aggressive sisters and their cousin are told they will be staying in jail overnight.
A nineteen-year-old self-described hustler thinks everything is a joke, but when he angers the wrong inmate during the "Beyond Scared Straight" program, he suddenly finds himself at the center of a screaming mob.
A 17-year-old thief steals multiple cars and has no remorse about being "gone in 60 seconds". When he discovers his stepdad imprisoned his world comes crashing down.
A defiant 15-year-old fighter thrives on violence, but an unexpected meeting with a close relative in jail, and another inmate's inspiring freestyle rap, leads to a one-two punch of reality.
A 13-year-old boy claims gangs and lights fires. His plans to assault rival gang members are derailed when he gets caught ratting out a thieving convict.
A gangbanger loudly challenges inmates, but is shocked to see a relative behind bars. She then faces a situation after the tour with potentially fatal consequences.
Rumors lead to violence when a proud gay teen beats a fellow classmate, sending her to the hospital and him to jail where he gets an eye-opening lesson in restraint.
A very aggressive 15-year-old whose attacks on his mother forced her to Taser and pepper-spray him in self-defense, and to send him on a tour of a jail.
Unpredictable Deputy Lyle bullies, coaxes and comforts to help create new futures for a car-jacking gangbanger, a shoplifting party girl, a violent fighter and a granny-robbing thief.
After an 18 year-old is caught at school, unaware she is carrying someone else's weapons, her only hope for a clean slate is to take part in the youth intervention program.
A spoiled, fighting gang member steals from the poor to give to herself. When she is confronted by a swarm of angry inmates in jail, she physically fights back, launching the entire cellblock into chaos and lockdown.
An angry 14-year-old bully and thief, meets a devoted deputy who tries to help open her mind to letting go of her tragic past.
11
"Lights Out!"
September 3, 2015 (2015-09-03)
N/A
This special looks back on the series on how it reached out to more than 550 troubled teens.
Controversy
Criticism
The television series has no involvement with creating the juvenile diversion programs that it documents, filming programs that were already in jails and prisons across the country.[citation needed] Two Department Of Justice officials argued that the program was “not only ineffective but is potentially harmful."[3] The series has been criticized due to the teens being in jail with adults which were considered life-threatening and dangerous, and that the show violated the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA).
