The young man received a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years without parole, with the alternative of attendance at a shock incarceration program for nonviolent first-time felons. In prison he was a witness to gangs and violence. His friend who was also incarcerated had a prior offense and was not eligible for the boot camp, which was called the Impact Incarceration Program. The film depicts the military routines and strict discipline of the boot camp, the discipline imposed when two inmates became involved in a fight, the conflict between the correctional supervisors regarding the appropriate level of discipline, and the inmates' involvement in building levees made of sandbags to try to save a nearby town from flooding. The film also shows the offender's return to the community, where he remains on home detention with an electronic ankle bracelet. It also shows his unsuccessful efforts to find employment over a 3-month period; the efforts of his drug-dealer friend to try to bring him into drug dealing; and his alcohol consumption, depression, and suicidal feelings. A postscript notes that he obtained employment after 5 months, has stayed employed since then, and is seeking to become a youth counselor.