IntroductionPrison occupies a central symbolic role within the criminal justice system and is intended to be a key deterrent to future crime. The conventional wisdom is that criminals should be put in prison because they have deviated from society's norms. They are typically labeled as misfits or law breakers. According to Smith (2004) a sex offender is “someone who has committed or attempted to commit any type of illegal or non-consensual sexual act and/or any sexual behavior involving children under the legal age of consent, according to laws that govern where the sexual behavior occurred." The purpose of the Queensland Department of Corrections is to provide, in collaboration with other key criminal justice agencies, "community safety and crime prevention through humane containment, supervision and offender rehabilitation" (Queensland Corrective Services, 2009). Probation and probation officers supervise sex offenders who have been placed on community orders by the courts, as well as offenders released on parole from prison. They work to integrate offenders through the systems management and guarantee that all receive appropriate classification and supervision in rehabilitation programs to maximize their chances of reintegration into society upon release Understand the role of probation and parole officers, rehabilitation programs, the effect of the media on legislation and community awareness and awareness the unpredictability of future behavior will be examined to enable a better understanding of the given scenario and the important role officers play in reintegrating sex offenders into the community versus incarceration to prevent relapse. Rehabilitation program...... middle of article ......Merril D. 2004. “Encyclopaedia of Rape”. Library Journal, 129(18): 120-120. Accessed March 2, 2014. Stathopoulos, Mary. 2010. “Measuring Sex Offender Recidivism.” Australian Center for the Study of Sexual Violence Awareness, 25(1). Accessed 1 March 2014. http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/newsletter/n25/n25-3.html.White, Rob and Perrone, Santina. 2010. “Recidivism, Rehabilitation and Restorative Justice.” In Crime, Criminality and Criminal Justice, edited by Bill Gillespie, 546-567. Victoria: Oxford University Press.White, Rob and Perrone, Santina. 2010. “Crime and the Media.” In Crime, Criminality and Criminal Justice, edited by Bill Gillespie, 33-50. Victoria: Oxford University Press.White, Rob and Perrone, Santina. 2010. “Incarceration and Captivity.” In Crime, Criminality and Criminal Justice, edited by Bill Gillespie, 475-509. Victoria: Oxford University Press.