Criminal justice client rehabs can be considered as being a considerably better option than time in jail or significant fines for those who have already been convicted of any sort of drug or alcohol related crime. As an example, a person who has been in prison for driving drunk of drugs or alcohol may be eligible to obtain rehabilitation services for his or her problem instead of serving time in prison. The judge may even order the individual receive treatment, either alone or in addition to other sentencing. First-time offenders specifically in many cases are given the opportunity to select a criminal justice client rehab instead of other sentencing, and it is well-advised that they benefit from it if it is an alternative. The idea behind criminal justice client rehabs is it is much more efficient and effective to invest time and energy into treatment than punishment. Much research has been done to find out how effective this approach is on recidivism rates, i.e. if the criminal justice client returns or not to criminal justice system following treatment. The signs and indicators seem to be quite positive, and criminal justice clients who do experience treatment have a much better possibility of remaining out of the judicial system after rehabilitation.