. Though not a panacea for all cases, New Jersey has taken strong measures to integrate their criminal rehabilitation program with the needs of the community and the offender. Prisons are no longer just for punishment and containment. It is critical for the health of a community that the penitentiary system focuses on the permanent rehabilitation of their offender population. By using a variety of the programs listed before, offenders are offered the chance to change and the possibility of leading a respectable life in their community. Unfortunately, the social system is not set up to make this change easy. It requires a lot of attention and support to guide an offender back to a straight lifestyle. The cost of supporting these programs is high, but not as high as the cost of incarcerating a criminal for similar crimes repeatedly. The end results of these programs are far more exciting than the results of pure incarceration. By trying to rehabilitate an offender, a community is ingesting a remedy to the aches and pains of crimes while unknowingly strengthening the community as a whole. When offenders are rehabilitated, they contribute to the health of a community. They can set the example for future generations, through their experiences, of how crime does not pay. ...
