This celebrated, Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentary chronicles a program designed to prevent crime by introducing juvenile offenders to the realities of prison life; its addendum, SCARED STRAIGHT! 20 YEARS LATER, touches base
with the first documentary's participants. In 1978, documentary filmmaker Arnold Shapiro accompanied 17 delinquents to the Juvenile Awareness Program, run by inmates of Rahway State Prison. Busted for drug offenses, breaking-
and-entering and shoplifting, the cocky teens expected an outing but got a life-altering experience. Face to face with murders and rapists, the adolescents soon discovered that they lacked the skills necessary for coping...
Released:
1978
Rated:
NR
Length:
90 mins