| Scared Straight! | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Arnold Shapiro |
| Produced by | Arnold Shapiro |
| Written by | Arnold Shapiro |
| Narrated by | Peter Falk |
| Cinematography | William Moffitt |
| Editing by | Bob Niemack |
| Release date(s) | 1978 |
| Running time | 52 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Scared Straight! is a 1978 documentary directed by Arnold Shapiro. Narrated by Peter Falk, the subject of the documentary is a group of juvenile delinquents 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" (hence the film's title) 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. The cast includes a drug dealer and counterfeit document manufacturer from Westchester County (Mikie C), a gang member from Jersey City (Jerome Watts), an arsonist and bomb builder from Bridgeport (Jon Shipiro), the son of a Mafia informant (Carlo Gallo), and a 17-year-old chop shop parts dealer and car thief from the Bronx (Jesus Rodriguez). At film's end, the teenagers say that they have decided that they don't want to end up in jail. The film ends with a "roll call" of the teens, revealing that most were "scared straight", though a few were said to have reoffended.
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The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1978.[1] It also won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement–Informational Program and Outstanding Informational Program.
Teenagers in this documentary and the 1980 sequel, Scared Straight! Another Story, ranged from 15- to 19-year-old repeat offenders of crimes ranging from petty theft and public intoxication to gambling, counterfeiting, and racketeering . None of the individuals in the original documentary were ever convicted of a felony, except for Angelo Speziale, who was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for the rape and murder of his neighbor, Michele Mika. Most were from the tri-state (Connecticut, New Jersey and New York) area and agreed to accept the experiment in lieu of jail time and/or probation/public service. The producers asked for a range of youth that came from poor inner-city neighborhoods to the affluent suburbs of New York City. The recidivism rate of the original two casts was less than 10%.
As a result of the film, many states introduced "scared straight" programs in an attempt to rehabilitate young delinquents. The effectiveness of such programs has been questioned, most significantly by a peer reviewed meta-analysis report of seven such programs by Anthony Petrosino et al. (2002, updated 2003), which indicated that "scared straight" programs not only failed to deter crime, but actually led to more offending behavior.[2]
The original Scared Straight! was followed by Scared Straight! Another Story (1980), Scared Straight! 10 Years Later (1987), and (on MTV and UPN) Scared Straight! 20 Years Later (1999).
On January 13, 2011, A&E introduced the new series Beyond Scared Straight, executive produced by Arnold Shapiro. According to the A&E website profile for the series: "Each one-hour episode focuses on a different inmate-run program in the U.S., and follows four or five at-risk teens before they attend the program, throughout their day inside the prison, immediately afterwards, and then follows up with them one month later to see the lasting impact of the experience on their lives. Beyond Scared Straight is about transforming the lives of young people through intervention and second chances."
On February 1, 2011, the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange reported that one of the graduates of the original Scared Straight! was now a convicted felon. As a scrawny 16-year-old, Angelo Speziale appeared in the original Scared Straight! documentary filmed at New Jersey’s Rahway State Prison in 1978. Now he’s back–serving 25-to-life in Rahway for the 1982 rape and murder of a teenage girl who lived next door to him. Proponents of Scared Straight! claim the program literally scares kids away from a life of crime. In a follow-up show called Scared Straight: 20 Years Later, Speziale echoed this, claiming the experience changed him. He was later arrested for shoplifting in 2005 and a DNA sample linked him to the 30-year-old cold case murder for which he was convicted in 2010. A New Jersey law enforcement source confirms Angelo Speziale is the same person who appeared in both documentaries.
On August 18, 2011, A&E premiered the first episode of the second season of Beyond Scared Straight, once again in the midst of controversy. Joe Vignati, director of Justice Programs at Governor's Office For Children and Families in Georgia, writes at the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange: "After becoming the highest rated program in the history of the Disney-owned A&E network, a new season of this 'reality' show returns to titillate the curious and misinformed...The scared straight approach is an inappropriate and unacceptable means for disciplining children. This approach has been shown to cause short- and long- term harm and actually increases the likelihood of re-offending among some participants."[3]
Two Justice Department officials have written an op-ed piece describing scared straight programs as “not only ineffective but potentially harmful” to the kids involved. The op-ed appears in the February 1st edition of Baltimore Sun, written by Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Acting Administrator Jeff Slowikowski and Laurie O. Robinson. They say that, "when it comes to our children," policymakers and parents should "follow evidence, not anecdote."[4]
Each episode ends with updates of the teen participants, citing both successes and some failures in their post-prison behavior.
A brief parody of Scared Straight was included in the television series The Office in the 2006 episode entitled "The Convict". Steve Carell, playing office manager Michael Scott, performs as a character of his creation, named Prison Mike, who acts out a toned-down version of the type of speech given in the original Scared Straight.
On Mad TV, Will Sasso & Aries Spears play as 2 Convicts in a program called "Scared Straight Anywhere" in which they are literally used to Scare People straight anywhere such as shown in the Skit a Business Meeting, Boy Scout Meeting & Hollywood.
On Saturday Night Live, Kenan Thompson's character Lorenzo McIntosh is hired by a jail in their "Scared Straight" program. McIntosh tries to scare the juvenile delinquents by using movie references such as being arrested because he tried to hide an alien trying to phone home from the government.[5]
In Arrested Development, George Bluth, Sr. is sent to a "Scared Straight" tent, only to actually present at a tent intended to change repressed homosexuals.
On an episode of Married with Children, Al Bundy told his family a story about a group of troubled high school students who were bussed to his shoe store and forced to watch his daily activities as part of the "Scared Rich!" program. Al added that it wasn't long before the most "hardened punk" was on his knees sobbing.
In episode 2 of Freaks and Geeks, after Bill doubts Neil's claim that someone who doesn't pay attention in high school will have a poor future and end up "dead or in jail", Neil asks him if he was asleep during "Scared Straight!".
In episode 42 of Beavis & Butt-Head, "Scared Straight", Principal McVicker restarts a Scared Straight program, and the duo find themselves having fun in prison[6]. They befriend two prisoners, who are Iron Maiden fans, and play air guitar with them.[7]
In the episode, "Long Drive" of Malcolm in the Middle, a day in jail tests a defiant Reese who faces a Scared Straight encounter.
The Boondocks television series used the documentary in the episode "A Date with the Booty Warrior" to remake it into an episode where Riley and Huey participate in a Scared Straight program at a local jail. Some lines and examples were even taken from the documentary and used in the episode.
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