Language as a Protective Factor: Making Conscious Word Choices to Support Children with Incarcerated Parents

Abstract

Language is powerful. Although this may seem obvious, language as a protective factor for children with incarcerated parents has not – to the authors’ knowledge – been explored. This chapter discusses the movement toward person-first, humanizing language in general, in the field of criminal justice, and then specifically for children with incarcerated parents. Drawing from the work and words of those directly affected, the authors argue that shifting terminology is important to lessen the stigma and promote children’s well-being when a parent is incarcerated. Terms such as “criminal,” “inmate,” and “offender” should be replaced with “incarcerated person” or “parent who is incarcerated,” to acknowledge not only the person behind the alleged law-breaking but also the parent, thereby seeing the child who is affected, too. Other organizations and entities are calling for and have made this shift. Examining the roots of commonplace or field-specific terms and replacing them, as our analysis and understanding evolve, with more accurate, respectful language is critical to ensure that our language does not uphold an oppressive system where racism is baked in. In the field of child welfare, for example, terms such as “visitation” and “freeing children for adoption” should be replaced with “visiting” and “children legally approved for adoption,” respectively. The term “minority” is used often to mean “people of color,” but it is a term of measurement and comparison; it’s continued use functions to remind people of color that they are “less than” even when they are in the majority.