Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Abstract
This Essay enumerates three reasons for abandoning the prevailing practice of utilizing the label “offender” when referring to a person who has committed a crime. The Essay next identifies and debunks reasons that have been cited for persisting in referring to a person as an “offender.” The Essay then explores the question of what term or terms could supplant this label and profiles signs of emerging support for desisting from the convention of calling people “offenders.” One of the themes that permeates this Essay is that the language we use when referring to people can thwart systemic and cultural change – in this context, a change in how people who have committed a crime are viewed and treated, both within the criminal-justice system and by society at large.
Recommended Citation
Branham, Lynn S. Eradicating the Label "Offender" From the Lexicon of Restorative Practices and Criminal Justice, 9 Wake Forest L. Rev. Online 53 (2019).