Inmates at the Valley State Prison for Women use a combination of confrontation, information, and communication to try to keep five young girls from becoming convicts.

Five teens learn the harsh realities of prison life at the Maryland Correctional Institution at Jessup, where dozens of menacing inmates, including convicted murderers, surround the kids and taunt them. The teens include Steve, 17, who likes the "outlaw" life; Brandon, 17, who's been arrested five times; Dion, who admits to selling drugs; and Sahn, 13, who steals polo shirts because he's got a "passion for fashion.

Hardened criminals at the California prison that is home to Charles Manson give teens a taste of life on the yard, where any prisoner can approach the kids and give them a feel for the dangers of prison life. The teens include Stephen, 16, a violent youth who threatens his teachers; Josh and Armando, 16, twin brothers and gang members; Elijha, 15, a car thief; and Abraham, 16, who thinks that going to jail is no big deal.

Six at-risk teens experience Lieber Correctional Facility in Ridgeville, SC, to get a first-hand look and feel at life on the inside. The inmate-run "Operation Behind Bars" program locks up the teens in tiny cells, gives them a taste prison food and offers a glimpse into "Lock-Up," a prison within the prison for the worst of the inmate population. Shaming the teens with a stern tone, the program coordinator, civilian Nell Westbury, adds a unique voice to the inmate's onslaught.

Four at-risk teens are brought to one of the nation's most infamous prisons to participate in the S.Q.U.I.R.E.S. program? the oldest inmate-run youth diversion program in the nation. The program, short for San Quentin's Utilization of Inmate Resources, Experiences & Studies, shows these kids the realities of prison life. They see the state's only male Death Row, are paraded past the heckles of the prisoners in the overcrowded cells and discuss how the constant fear of violence and physical harm is around every corner.

Maryland inmates give a group of five at-risk teens a taste of prison when they are forced to eat "Lock-up Loaf," a brick of baked mush served to unruly prisoners. The teens include, Shane, 17, a redneck who is surprised he hasn't killed anyone, Garrett, 13, who HAS been kicked out of eight schools already, Brandy, 16, who skips school to smoke pot, her brother Shawn, 15, who protects Brandy at any cost and Richard, 18, a towering jock who drinks, blacks out and awakens bloodied from brawling.

Five at-risk girls are subjected to a terrifying simulation of the degrading process of entering a female prison. Four friends, busted together for shoplifting, have a unique opportunity to jointly discover the horror of prison life. The prison tour reaches its greatest emotional impact when teens open up to the inmates, causing one girl to reveal a tragic secret.

In Charlotte, NC, teen troublemaker Jose goes head-to-head with terrifying inmates and Sgt. Garrett, one of the toughest female jail deputies Beyond Scared Straight has come across. When Jose refuses to follow an order, Sgt. Garrett makes it her mission to break him down.

Oakland County, Michigan is a stone's throw from Detroit's infamous 8-Mile and the streets here are just as tough - but the deputies and inmates who run Oakland County Jail's "Turn-Around" program are even tougher.

An at-risk teen, with dreams of a rap career, gets a wake-up call win he sees where his love of drugs and gang activity will lead, during a visit to the Portsmouth County Jail in Virginia.

Oklahoma County is in the midst of an epidemic of gangs and street crime. Angry, impressionable teens are being pulled into the gangster lifestyle. For two pairs of at-risk girls, jail seems to be no scarier than the streets. They defy deputies and threaten inmates. When one girl is finally pushed to the breaking point, she lashes out, physically assaulting a deputy and finding out what it really means to be arrested.

In the second-season finale, San Bernardino County Jail in California is visited by four teens who are also taken to the morgue to witness the consequences of gang violence.

At the Richland County Jail in South Carolina, troubled teens learn firsthand what jail is like when they are locked in cells for a terrifying all-night stay. Sleep is the last thing they will find though, as deputies and inmates rouse them repeatedly from their bunks during the physically grueling sleepover.

A prison in St. Clair, Ill., is visited by teens who are threatened by screaming inmates

Teen girls visit a prison in San Bernardino County, Cal., where one of the teens gets into a confrontation that turns physical.

Siblings visit the Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Virginia.

At the Queen Anne's County Jail "Reset" program in Maryland, six at-risk teens endure a four-day intervention program depicting the terrors of jail, a drunk driving fatality in a hospital trauma center and a glimpse of their own funeral. Eighteen year-old partiers Daria and Christopher, who are girlfriend and boyfriend, will find their relationship tested when they are forced to testify against each other in court.

Outside Detroit, a teen trio of female troublemakers who call themselves The Three Musketeers, discover their bond is not tight enough to survive even a day in the Oakland County women's lockup. Courtney, Tia and Renee love to party, but when they are forced by inmates and deputies to scrub a jail cellblock and bathroom, the party is over. Meanwhile Taylor, a 16-year old thief, is swarmed by screaming female inmates who learn that she stole $2,000 from her grandparents, and one teen makes an unexpected friend behind bars.

In the third-season finale, a teenage pyromaniac visits Virginia's Hampton Roads Regional Jail, where his mom works as a deputy.

A stoner gets violent when inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque, N.M., sully his girlfriend's honor; a 14-year-old "chick magnet" draws unwanted comparisons to a teen idol.

A once-violent, now submissive inmate hopes to make a difference in the lives of the new young offenders in his facility.

A young Oklahoma offender tries to escape during a jail visit; preteen toughs are forced to display their loyalty to their respective rival gangs; a teen arsonist gets burned by his actions.

A jail inmate tosses chairs at a young troublemaker; a 16-year-old boozer has a sobering experience at a funeral home; a surprise witness in the courtroom threatens a teen's freedom.

Small crimes threaten the light bond between two brothers; the teens visit an "alternative lifestyle" ward.

A teenage football star's drug use and violent ways threaten his dreams of a career in law enforcement; a police officer's son believes that he is above the law; a hulking teen troublemaker meets his match.