Williamson County Launches Jail Tour Program As Crime Deterrent For Juveniles (VIDEO)

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Think of it as a Williamson County version of the television show "Beyond Scared Straight."

The Williamson County Sheriff's Office has designed a jail tour program to educate youth on the reality of incarceration to show them in real-world terms of the legal consequences of violating the law. "Ourgoal is to educate youth and stop them from making poor decisions before it's too late," Sheriff Robert Chody said in a prepared statement.

The first tour is scheduled June 29 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., with only ten spots available. Parents wishing to sign up their children for the tour or seeking more details can contact Lt. Jeff Williams at (512) 943-1406 or via email at jwilliams@wilco.org.

Often referred to as "prison tour" or "prison awareness" programs, such offerings are made to parents as a method of deterring juveniles from walking down paths of delinquency or criminality. The best-known of these programs is called "Scared Straight" featured in a 1978 documentary that begat the "Beyond Scared Straight" series on the A&E Channel.

Such programs largely target youth under the age of 18 categorized as juvenile delinquents (those having been officially abjudicated or convicted by a juvenile court) or those at risk of becoming delinquent, according to CrimeSolutions.gov. Through prison tours, youth observe the consequences of criminal behavior through the perspective of inmate presentations detailing life in incarceration with the end goal of scaring youth into leading lives free of crime.

But the jury is still out as to the effectiveness of such programs. Two meta-analyses found that participation in Scared Straight-type programs actually increases the odds that youth will commit offenses in the future, according to CrimeSolutions.gov.

As outlined on the website, a review of eight studies found recidivism rates to be, on average, higher for participants in Scared Straight-style programs compared to juveniles going through regular case processing. In synthesizing the results, researchers found that juvenile awareness program participants had significantly higher re-offending rates compared to non-participants.

It's unclear how intense the Williamson County tour might be, but some examples from "Beyond Scared Straight" appear below:

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