Editing Scared Straight! (section)

==Reception and legacy==
As a result of the film, many states introduced "scared straight" programs in an attempt to rehabilitate young delinquents.<ref>{{cite web |title = Scared Straight! |url = https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/7575/scared-straight/ |work = DVD Talk |access-date = May 27, 2012 |author = Gil Jawetz |date = September 12, 2003 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105075745/http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/7575/scared-straight/ |archive-date = November 5, 2012 |df = mdy-all }}</ref>

In April 1978, James Finckenauer, a professor of the [[Rutgers University|Rutgers]] School of Criminal Justice, began a test of the Scared Straight program, using a [[Treatment and control groups|control group]], something that had not been done previously.<ref>{{Cite book |title = Black Box Thinking |last = Syed |first = Mathew |publisher = Penguin Random House |year = 2015 |isbn = 978-1-59184-822-6 |pages = 162 }}</ref> His study concluded that children who attended Rahway were more likely to commit crimes than those who did not.<ref>{{Cite journal |title = 'Scared Straight' and the Panacea phenomenon: discussion |journal = Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |volume = 347 |issue = 1 |pages = 213–217 |date = June 1980 |doi = 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1980.tb21271.x |pmid = 6930902 |language = en |first = James O. |last = Finckenauer |bibcode = 1980NYASA.347..213F |s2cid = 42074941 }}</ref>

A [[meta-analysis]] of the results of a number of Scared Straight and similar programs found that they actively increased crime rates and lead to higher re-offense rates compared to control groups that did not receive the intervention. The cause of the increase in crime is not clear.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Petrosino|first1=Anthony|last2=Turpin-Petrosino|first2=Carolyn|last3=Hollis-Peel|first3=Meghan E.|last4=Lavenberg|first4=Julia G.|date=2013-04-30|title='Scared Straight' and other juvenile awareness programs for preventing juvenile delinquency|journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews|issue=4|pages=CD002796|doi=10.1002/14651858.CD002796.pub2|issn=1469-493X|pmid=23862186|url=https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=crim_fac|access-date=September 24, 2019|archive-date=April 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428163712/https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=crim_fac|url-status=live|pmc=11973542}}</ref> The UK [[College of Policing]] agrees that there is "very strong quality" evidence that Scared Straight programs cause an increase in crime.<ref name="ukcop">{{cite web|url=http://whatworks.college.police.uk/toolkit/Pages/Intervention.aspx?InterventionID=2|title=College of Policing: What Works Crime Reduction Toolkit - 'Scared Straight' Programs|date=2015-02-19|access-date=2018-07-05|archive-date=July 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705151225/http://whatworks.college.police.uk/toolkit/Pages/Intervention.aspx?InterventionID=2|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2011, two [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] officials wrote an [[op-ed]] piece in ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' describing scared straight programs as "ineffective" and "potentially harmful". The officials, OJJDP Acting Administrator Jeff Slowikowski and Laurie O. Robinson wrote that "when it comes to our children," [[policymakers]] and parents should "follow evidence, not anecdote".<ref>Laurie O. Robinson and Jeff Slowikowski. [https://www.baltimoresun.com/2011/01/31/scary-and-ineffective/ "Scary -- and ineffective"] . ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]''. January 31, 2011</ref>

In 2004, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy estimated that each dollar spent on Scared Straight programs incurred costs of $203.51.<ref>{{Cite report |first1 = Steve |last1 = Aos |first2 = Roxanne |last2 = Lieb |first3 = Jim |last3 = Mayfield |first4 = Marna |last4 = Miller |first5 = Annie |last5 = Pennucci |date = September 7, 2014 |title = Benefits and Costs of Prevention and Early Intervention Programs for Youth |url = http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/ReportFile/881/Wsipp_Benefits-and-Costs-of-Prevention-and-Early-Intervention-Programs-for-Youth_Summary-Report.pdf |publisher = [[Washington State Institute for Public Policy]] |location = Olympia, WA |access-date = July 28, 2014 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140802015319/http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/ReportFile/881/Wsipp_Benefits-and-Costs-of-Prevention-and-Early-Intervention-Programs-for-Youth_Summary-Report.pdf |archive-date = August 2, 2014 |df = mdy-all }}</ref>

=== Cultural references ===
Television series ''[[Hardcastle and McCormick]]'' had an end of first-season episode called "Scared Stiff" in which teenage boys were taken to a [[state prison]] to scare them out of further crimes.

In 1984, the syndicated animated series ''[[Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids#Revamps and renames|The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids]]'' used the ''Scared Straight!'' formula in the episode "Busted". There, after the main protagonists are arrested for being accessories to grand theft auto—they had accepted a ride from their new friend, Larry, who admits only after initiating a police pursuit that he had just stolen the car—the police sergeant and court agree to drop the charges against the Cosby Kids ... but only after giving them a tour of a maximum-security prison, where the kids are frightened by the inmates and their behavior. In the end, the Cosby Kids vow to stay out of trouble and promptly disassociate with Larry.

The 1992 ''[[Married... with Children]]'' sixth season, episode "Rites of Passage", has [[Al Bundy]], on Bud's 18th birthday, lamenting how the Department of Juvenile Corrections bused some juvenile offenders over to his shoe store, making them spend over three hours watching him work at his dead-end job, to show them how important it is to stay in school-and out of trouble, "until even the most hardened punk was crying like a baby".

Between 2008 and 2012, ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' satirized ''Scared Straight!''-type programs in [[Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 2007–2008#Scared Straight|a series of eight sketches]].

In the third-season episode of ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' entitled "Notapusy," a former prison inmate mistakes a [[gay conversion therapy]] seminar entitled "Startled Straight" for a ''Scared Straight!''-type program and lectures the group of men about the horrors of incarceration, especially the prevalence of homosexual [[prison sex]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Murray |first1=Noel |title=Arrested Development: "Forget Me Now"/"Notapusy" |url=https://www.avclub.com/arrested-development-forget-me-now-notapusy-1798175047 |access-date=4 June 2018 |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=November 20, 2012}}</ref>

"A Date with the Booty Warrior," a third-season episode of ''[[The Boondocks (TV series)|The Boondocks]]'', features a group of children participating in a program called "Scared Stiff". However, the program is subverted when the children and prisoners collaborate to organize a [[prison strike]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pierce |first1=Leonard |title=The Boondocks: "A Date With The Booty Warrior" |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-boondocks-a-date-with-the-booty-warrior-1798165330 |access-date=4 June 2018 |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=June 27, 2010 |archive-date=August 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831000225/http://tv.avclub.com/the-boondocks-a-date-with-the-booty-warrior-1798165330 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rap artist [[GZA]] utilised samples of Peter Falk's narration for the song "Path of Destruction" from the album ''[[Pro Tools (album)|Pro Tools]]''.

Comedian Tom Segura referenced the Scared Straight episode of 1999 that he claims "aired once" in his Netflix comedy special ''Mostly Stories''.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Tom Segura |date=2016 |title=Tom Segura: Mostly Stories |medium=Online |language=en |url=https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/2017/04/19/tom-segura-mostly-stories-2016-full-transcript/ |access-date=December 6, 2018 |format=Streaming |time=42 minutes |publisher=Netflix}}</ref>

In the ''[[Beavis and Butt-Head]]'' episode "Scared Straight", Beavis and Butt-Head are sent to prison for a day as part of a Scared Straight program. They end up befriending some inmates who share their passion for [[heavy metal music]], and decide to sneak back in to stay longer.

In the ''[[Drake & Josh]]'' episode "Steered Straight", Drake Parker and Josh Nichols are sent to jail as part of a program that's similar to Scared Straight. However, on the way to the jail, the police car they were riding in is hijacked by an actual criminal, who mistakes the brothers for a criminal duo.