Life on the street vs life behind bars?

I wonder which reality strikes more fear into people: being caged up in prison or jail with criminals (some of them possibly violent) or sleeping on curbs and in alleys night and day due to homelessness and being at the mercy of passersby (some kind, some possibly abusive) and the weather (sometimes hot, sunny, and sweaty or sometimes cold, windy, snowy, stormy, and rainy). In prison, food is provided. On the street, it is not.