Scared Straight and juvenile awareness programmes

Domain XVI · Historical, discredited & harmful · 1975 · Rahway State Prison, New Jersey

What it is

This guide is included for history and safety. Juvenile awareness programmes are not a therapy and are not recommended: they are deterrence programmes in which young people who have offended, or are thought to be at risk of offending, are brought into adult prisons or jails, or into jail-style…

Format

• Evaluation (1967 to 1992 trials). Nine randomised or quasi-randomised trials in eight US states, with 946 mostly male participants aged on average 15 to 17, found that the programmes increased offending (odds of offending about 1.6 to 1.7 times higher than controls). Finckenauer's controlled study…
• Session number, length and format follow the client's needs and the setting; use the usual format of the service (individual, family, consultation). For the NICE multimodal interventions, the quality standard describes intensive contact (several meetings a week over several months) under a…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evaluation (1967 to 1992 trials). Nine randomised or quasi-randomised trials in eight US states, with 946 mostly male participants aged on average 15 to 17, found that the programmes increased offending (odds of offending about 1.6 to 1.7 times higher than controls). Finckenauer's controlled study…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Polarisation; stick to evidence statements. Working when the agency commits to stopping or evaluating.
• Romanticising prison or prisoners; peer pressure. Working when the young person engages with an alternative.
• Feeling lectured; keep it a conversation. Working when the family asks how to judge evidence for themselves.
• Pressure to stay quiet for partnership reasons. Working when the concern is on record and alternatives are under discussion.
• Shame about later offending attributed to "not being scared enough". Working when the client can hold a more compassionate account.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.