Some broadcasters (an example being CFQC, a CTV Network affiliate in Canada) added locally produced segments in which experts discussed both the content of the documentary and the rationale behind airing it uncensored.

However, studies that compared and evaluated the effects of various Scared Straight programs against a control group have concluded that they increase the likelihood of participants later committing crimes.

[12] In 2010, Speziale was convicted of the 1982 rape and murder of Michele Mika, a teenage girl who lived next door to him, and is currently serving a sentence of 25 years to life in Rahway.

[15] In April 1978, James Finckenauer, a professor of the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, began a test of the Scared Straight program, using a control group, something that had not been done previously.

[18] The UK College of Policing agrees that there is "very strong quality" evidence that Scared Straight programs cause an increase in crime.

[19] In 2011, two Justice Department officials wrote an op-ed piece in The Baltimore Sun describing scared straight programs as "ineffective" and "potentially harmful".

The officials, OJJDP Acting Administrator Jeff Slowikowski and Laurie O. Robinson wrote that "when it comes to our children," policymakers and parents should "follow evidence, not anecdote".

[20] In 2004, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy estimated that each dollar spent on Scared Straight programs incurred costs of $203.51.

There, after the main protagonists are arrested for being accessories to grand theft auto—they had accepted a ride from their new friend, Larry, who admits only after initiating a police pursuit that he had just stolen the car—the police sergeant and court agree to drop the charges against the Cosby Kids ... but only after giving them a tour of a maximum-security prison, where the kids are frightened by the inmates and their behavior.

The 1992 Married... with Children sixth season, episode "Rites of Passage", has Al Bundy, on Bud's 18th birthday, lamenting how the Department of Juvenile Corrections bused some juvenile offenders over to his shoe store, making them spend over three hours watching him work at his dead-end job, to show them how important it is to stay in school-and out of trouble, "until even the most hardened punk was crying like a baby".

[22] "A Date with the Booty Warrior," a third-season episode of The Boondocks, features a group of children participating in a program called "Scared Stiff".

[23] Rap artist GZA utilised samples of Peter Falk's narration for the song "Path of Destruction" from the album Pro Tools.

Comedian Tom Segura referenced the Scared Straight episode of 1999 that he claims "aired once" in his Netflix comedy special Mostly Stories.

They end up befriending some inmates who share their passion for heavy metal music, and decide to sneak back in to stay longer.