RT Article
T1 Statewide Prison Language Mandates: Where Intention and Implementation Diverge
JF The prison journal
VO 104
IS 6
SP 740
OP 760
A1 Kushmerick-McCune, Bryce
A2 Ingel, Sydney N.
A2 Rudes, Danielle S. 1970-
A2 Brown, Wyatt
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1907568352
AB Person-centered language has increasingly been adopted in criminal legal contexts. Recognizing the harmful effects of stigmatizing language, some states have mandated correctional staff to use person-centered language instead of “prisoner” or “inmate.” However, little is known about the implementation of these mandates. To address this, the current study utilized interviews with 87 incarcerated people and 15 staff members in two prisons in a state that recently adopted a mandate. The findings suggest that the mandate has not substantially altered the terminology used or treatment people receive. This research builds understanding of how language affects the carceral experience, highlighting its limitations when unaccompanied by culture change.
K1 Implementation
K1 person-centered language mandates
K1 Correctional Staff
K1 incarcerated people
K1 Prison
K1 Corrections
DO 10.1177/00328855241286512