Regular people went undercover in an Atlanta jail as part of an experiment - and found one of the scariest aspects of life behind bars comes from the guards

• On A&E's "60 Days In," nine law-abiding citizens went undercover in Atlanta's Fulton County Jail.
• They found one of the scariest, and most dehumanizing, elements of life behind bars is raids by the guards, who are searching for weapons or contraband.
• The raids also serve as a demonstration of power - showing prisoners that they're at the institution's mercy.

At Atlanta's Fulton County Jail, inmates make weapons out of just about anything - plastic shards, e-cigarettes, even toothbrushes.

If word gets to jail staff that one of the inmates has a contraband item, it could prompt security guards to carry out a raid of their cells. During a raid, officers with the jail's Direct Action Response Team clear out inmates from sections of the jail, frisk them, and turn over their cells in search of the contraband.

Such a raid was depicted on "60 Days In," the A&E documentary series that follows nine law-abiding citizens who went undercover at Fulton County Jail for two months to expose problems from within the system.

While raids are often effective in rooting out deadly weapons, the participants said, they can leave inmates feeling dehumanized and demoralized.

"It was quite intimidating and disorienting to be reminded again that I am at this jail's mercy, that they can essentially do with me whatever they please," one participant, a student named Andrew, said on the show.

Here's how a raid goes down at Fulton County Jail: