Words Matter: Using Humanizing Language (2024)

FAQs

What words do we use and avoid when covering people and incarceration? ›

Avoid correctional labels such as inmate, offender, prisoner, felon, convict, criminal. For the youth population, avoid terms such as juvenile, juvenile offender, and minor. Preferred terms are youth, adolescent, child, and young adult, as appropriate.

Among the articles is one by Lawrence Bartley, who said that hearing officers use the term “inmate” as an insult or condescendingly made him commit to calling those incarcerated by their names. “Words like “inmate,” “prisoner,” “convict,” “felon” and “offender” are like brands.

In the case of the criminal justice system, person-first language is as simple as “a person with a felony conviction” rather than “a felon.” Words like felon, convict, inmate, and bodies are used extensively by correctional systems, journalists, and the public at large.

We, along with many other organizations, recommend using their name or describing the person as “person who is incarcerated,” “a person behind bars” or “individual.” Some incarcerated and formerly incarcerated writers prefer terms like “prisoner” over others.

To sentence offenders, judges consider four pillars namely retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation.

Humanizing language is a language that is used to implement words that are degrading and are used to potentially implement an action that is negative.

The inmate will say things like “You're more like us than them.” This builds a subtle, but false level of trust between the inmates and the officer. Manipulative inmates want to appear trustworthy so the correctional officer turns to the inmate for support, rather than the officer's peers.

Never rat on an inmate, don't be nosy, don't have loose lips, and never put an inmate on the spot. Don't Fight With Other Inmates. Don't lose your head; do your own time. Don't Exploit Inmates.

(AP) — New York has amended several state laws to remove the word “inmate” and replace it with “incarcerated person” to refer to people serving prison time. The changes, signed into law Monday by Gov. Kathy Hochul, are intended to reduce the stigma of being in jail.

What is the politically correct way to say prisoners? ›

Incarcerated Person: A person confined to a jail or prison. Formerly Incarcerated Person: A person who has been in a carceral setting. Examples of carceral settings are prisons, immigration detention centers, local jails, and juvenile detention centers.

In the prison context, calling someone an inmate, for example, can be akin to calling them a “snitch” or an informant. And calling someone a prisoner, when the person feels that they are, in fact, a convict, can be an insult too, though certainly not as bad as calling them an inmate.

Criminal cant is similar to argot except that it is a temporary form of language that changes quickly. Other forms of language in correctional institutions include idiom, slang, acronyms, abbreviations, metaphors, similes, jargon, private languages, and patois. Corrections is a communication-intensive profession.

Person-centered language focuses on the individual and their experience, emphasizing that things happen to a person, not that they have defined or created the situation themselves (e.g., slaves v. enslaved persons, diabetics v. persons living with diabetes).

Person-centered language is language that puts people first. People are so much more than their substance use disorder, mental illness, or disability. Using person-centered language is about respecting the dignity, worth, unique qualities and strengths of every individual.

Definitions of incarcerate. verb. lock up or confine, in or as in a jail. synonyms: gaol, immure, imprison, jail, jug, lag, put away, put behind bars, remand. type of: confine, detain.

Your incarcerated loved one wants to feel connected with you and with what is going on in your life. Talking about things like good grades in school, promotions at work, who is dating who, engagements, marriages, babies, etc. will help your inmate catch up with what is going on in your life.