Editing Scared Straight! (section)

{{short description|1978 film by Arnold Shapiro}}
{{About|the films and juvenile rehabilitation programs|other uses|Scared Straight (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}}

{{Infobox film
| name           = Scared Straight!
| image          = Scared Straight!.jpg

| caption        = DVD Cover
| director       = [[Arnold Shapiro]]
| producer       =  Arnold Shapiro
| writer         =  Arnold Shapiro
| narrator       = [[Peter Falk]]
| starring       =
| music          =
| cinematography = William Moffitt
| editing        = Bob Niemack
| studio         = [[Golden West Television]]
| distributor    = Golden West Television
| released       = {{Film date|1978|11|02}}
| runtime        = 52 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
}}

'''''Scared Straight!''''' is a 1978 American documentary directed by [[Arnold Shapiro]]. Narrated by [[Peter Falk]], the subject of the documentary is a group of [[juvenile delinquent]]s and their three-hour session with actual convicts. Filmed at [[Rahway State Prison]], a group of inmates known as the "lifers" berate, scream at, and terrify the young offenders in an attempt to "scare them straight", so that those teenagers will avoid prison life.

The documentary aired on television in the late 1970s, uncensored; it marked the first time that the words "fuck" and "shit" were broadcast on many networks. Some broadcasters (an example being [[CFQC-DT|CFQC]], a [[CTV Network]] affiliate in Canada) added locally produced segments in which experts discussed both the content of the documentary and the rationale behind airing it uncensored.

The documentary received several awards, including the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1979|title=The 51st Academy Awards &#124; 1979|website=www.oscars.org|date=October 5, 2014 }}</ref> It found that most of the participants did not reoffend. However, studies that compared and evaluated the effects of various Scared Straight programs against a [[control group]] have concluded that they increase the likelihood of participants later committing crimes.