The “Beyond Scared Straight” message: “In prison for a day to stay out for life” certainly appeals to a television audience. The hit series from Disney’s A&E Network became the most watched original series launch in the network’s history with an audience of 3.7 million people. The show is a spin off of the multiple award-winning documentary films also produced by Arnold Shapiro.

But do “scared straight” programs really work to reduce juvenile crime? “No,” claimed Professor James Finckenauer, Ph.D., from Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice, in his address to the National Conference of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in New York City in July. Finckenauer, author of “Scared Straight! and the Panacea Phenomenon,” cogently explained why those programs don’t work by examining the concept of “deterrence” as applied to teenage thinking and behavior.