Benjamin Todd

So instead of following the trend, seek out problems that other people are systematically missing.

For instance, 1.

Does the problem affect neglected groups like those far away from us non-human animals or future generations, rather than us?

2.

Is the problem a low-probability event, which might be getting overlooked?

And 3.

Do few people know about the problem?

Following this advice is harder than it looks because it means standing out from the crowd, and that might mean looking a little weird.

3.

Is this problem solvable?

Scared Straight is a program that takes kids who have committed misdemeanors to visit prisons and meet convicted criminals, confronting them with their likely future if they don't change their ways.

The concept proved popular not just as a social program but as entertainment.

It was adapted for both an acclaimed documentary and a TV show on A&E, which broke ratings records for the network upon its premiere.

There's just one problem with Scared Straight.

It probably causes young people to commit more crimes.

Or more precisely, the young people who went through the program did commit fewer crimes than they did before, so superficially it looked like it worked.

But the decrease was smaller compared to similar young people who never went through the program.

This effect is so significant that the Washington State Institute for Public Policy estimated that each $1 spent on Scared Straight programs causes more than $200 worth of social harm.

This estimate seems a little too pessimistic to us, but even so, it looks like it was a huge mistake.

No one is sure why this is, but it might be because the young people realised that life in jail wasn't as bad as they thought, or they came to admire the criminals.