Peak (2012) states that “a true alternative to incarceration must have three elements to be effective: it must incapacitate offenders enough to interfere with their lives and activities to make them commit a new extremely difficult crime, must be sufficiently unpleasant to dissuade offenders from wanting to commit new crimes and must provide real and credible protection to the community". Alternative sentencing benefits both the justice system and the offender. Having the ability to impose an alternative sentence on eligible offenders will significantly reduce incarceration rates. Thus decreasing the number of prisons, which will reduce the amount of violence and medical problems within prison walls. An offender who has been granted an alternative to incarceration has much to gain. For example, if the defendant is placed under house arrest or under electronic surveillance, he or she can keep his or her current job, which helps ease the burden of the arrest on the family. Someone under house arrest is given the opportunity to see their family (husband, wife, children) every day. Those sentenced to house arrest do not have to worry about the reintegration phase once released from jail/prison. And they have the opportunity to use court-appointed resources to begin the healing process and address the root of the problem