Criminal Justice

When searching for resources on Criminal Justice, Crime, Criminal Justice Administration, or Law, the language used in scholarly resources, government documents, and public discourse. There are many times where we will use one term while the literature will use another term. For example:

A person incarcerated in a prison or jail can be called: Prisoner; Delinquent; Inmate; Deviant; Criminal; Offender; or Incarcerated person

All of these terms have slightly different meanings but often used interchangeable with one another. When searching with specific terms, be aware of the different synonyms that resources may be using. Here are additional resources on language here:

• The Marshall Project
• Language difficulties and criminal justice: the need for earlier identification
• Obstacles faced by deaf people in the criminal justice system
• The language of incarceration