Selena G

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  Selena commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  A Choice of Words: Prisoner, Inmate or Offender

  I think that the difference in preference comes from personal involvement/perspective. Consider yourself Matt, you work in reform which means that you prefer the optimistic approach maintaining both awareness that each person you encounter has committed a crime but the crime does not define the individual.  Consider the perspective of a police officer, we come into contact with the subject almost immediately. Therefore, for officer safety reasons and use of proper terminology we would use the term prisoner. The subject does not have free will to leave at his/her leisure, we are transporting them from one confinement to another. Lastly, from the perspective of a corrections deputy, again both for officer safety purposes (to maintain vigilance and set boundaries) and department mandated terminology it becomes necessary to label the subject as a convict. Even more so because a subject does not go into prison without a conviction.  I think the terminology follows a cycle as it moves through the criminal justice system. That's just my opinion. I think ultimately the decision on what the subject is going to be known as falls on his/her shoulders alone. Is he/she a career criminal or just dabbling?