A group of young delinquents well on the road to careers in crime, are given a shock course in prison life. Brought face to face with hardened criminals many serving life sentences for rape and murder, they are suddenly confronted with the harsh realities of a top-security U.S. Penitentiary.

Adults meet up with the people who changed their lives twenty years ago by confronting them about their lifestyles as teenagers.

Scared Straight! is a documentary film that follows a group of troubled teenagers who are taken on a visit to a maximum-security prison. The objective of the program is to discourage them from a life of crime by exposing them to the harsh reality and consequences of prison life. The film captures their reactions and interactions with real convicts in an effort to shock them into changing their ways.