America's Toughest Prisons - Season 1

An insight into life inside the most notorious jails in the United States, beginning in Utah State Prison, where many inmates have to choose between supporting their families or joining a gang. The programme meets Natalie Terrazas, whose family belong to a violent culture on the streets, meaning she must turn her back on them or face a life behind bars.

Life inside the Tent City correctional facility in Phoenix, Arizona, where inmates are kept outdoors in the scorching heat and luxuries including sugar, salt, coffee and tobacco are all banned

Life inside Iowa's Fort Dodge Correctional Facility, nicknamed the gladiator camp by inmates due to the vicious in-fighting behind bars. New arrival Thomas befriends a second-time prisoner in Emmet Unit before trying to prove himself on the weight machines, but the spectators subject him to ridicule. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Anthony focuses on securing an early release in a rehabilitative boot camp

Life inside the overcrowded Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, California, where an adult education programme is run in partnership with two local community colleges. Inmate Jim White reveals how his brainchild has resulted in 400 convicts graduating from the course, while Crips gang member Donovan Green's studies are disrupted by a sudden bout of violence. The programme also meets Roger Serna, whose attempts to receive an education are jeopardised when he is relocated from his cell to the gym.

The dangerously understaffed maximum-security Wyoming State Penitentiary, where new guards often last as little as two weeks before the pressure forces them to quit. Recent recruits, including former US Marine Brian Moyer and mother-of-two Kelly Cooper, discuss their experiences of patrolling the corridors with only pepper spray for a weapon, but a 20-strong team armed with shotguns and tear gas is on standby if a situation gets out of control.

Multnomah County Jail in Portland, Oregon, where guards work unarmed and many inmates have drug problems and suffer from mental illness. A heroin addict discusses the prospect of withdrawal, and an incarcerated former paralegal student shares her experiences of prison life, while one officer describes how overcrowding has led to the release of low-risk prisoners on busy nights