Beyond Scared Straight

Beyond Scared Straight is an original A&E reality TV series and a spinoff of the tremendously successful documentary film Scared Straight. Helmed by Academy Award and Emmy Award winning producer Arnold Shapiro, Beyond Scared Straight follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, taking modern delinquent juveniles to prisons around the country in hopes of reforming them. The Scared Straight program is open to teenagers of all races and takes them inside the prison walls and face-to-face with hardened inmates. Because the teens of today have become more accustomed to images of violence and dealing with the "tough life," new Scared Straight programs have had to adapt their techniques, relying on a formula of intimidation as well as communication in order to get their message through. Each hour-long episode of Beyond Scared Straight focuses on a different group of teens entering the program at different prisons across the country, and gives viewers a video account of their time at the prison as well as an update a month after their stint. MORE