Scared Straight! was a documentary directed by Arnold Shapiro and released in 1978. Arnold Shapiro (born 1st February 1941) is a UCLA graduate and an Emmy and Oscar winning American television director and producer. ... // Events February 1 - Bob Dylans film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour premieres in Los Angeles, California March 1 - Charlie Chaplins coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery 3 months after burial March - Leigh Brackett completes the first draft for Star Wars Episode...

The subject of the documentary was a group of cocky teenaged juvenile delinquents and the attempts to make them end their criminal ways by introducing them to actual convicts. Filmed at Rahway State Prison, a group of inmates known as the "lifers" berate, scream at, and terrify the young hoodlums and attempt to "scare them straight" (hence the film's title) by showing an ugly, harsh presentation of the realities of prison life. At film's end, the teenagers decide that they don't want to end up in jail. The movie's narration was provided by Peter Falk. Juvenile delinquency refers to antisocial or criminal acts performed by juveniles. ... Rahway State Prison is the former and still most commonly used name for the East Jersey State Prison, a male prison facility of the U.S. state of New Jersey. ... Peter Michael Falk (born September 16, 1927) is an American actor. ...

The film 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). The last sequel, hosted by Danny Glover, showed that the majority of the teens in the original program were, in fact, "scared straight" and went on to lead happy, productive lives. This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ... UPN (which originally stood for the United Paramount Network) was a television network in over 200 markets in the United States. ... Danny Lebern Glover[1] (born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. ...

The documentary was shown on television in the late 1970s. It was aired uncensored and marked the first time that the word "fuck" was broadcast on many networks. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The film won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 1978. It also won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement–Informational Program and Outstanding Informational Program. The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is one of the most prestigious awards for documentary films. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... An Emmy Award. ...

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 meta-analysis of seven such programs by Anthony Petrosino et al. (2002, updated 2003), which found that "scared straight" programs not only failed to deter crime, but actually led to more offending behavior.[1]

Teenagers in the 1978 and 1980 documentaries ranged from 13- to 19-year-old repeat offenders of crimes ranging from petty theft and public intoxication to gambling, counterfeiting and racketeering. It should be noted that none of the individuals in the original documentary were ever convicted of a felony. 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%. Official language(s) English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport[3] Largest metro area Hartford Metro Area[2] Area  Ranked 48th  - Total 5,543[4] sq mi (14,356 km²)  - Width 70 miles (113 km)  - Length 110 miles (177 km)  - % water 12. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the state. ... This article is about recidivism in criminology and penology. ...

The original cast included 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 Rodriguiez). Westchester County is a suburban county with about 940,000 residents located in the U.S. state of New York. ... The skyline of Jersey City, as seen from Lower New York Bay. ... “Bridgeport” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Bronx (disambiguation). ...

External link

• Scared Straight! at the Internet Movie Database