ArticleBMC international health and human rights2018
Words matter: a call for humanizing and respectful language to describe people who experience incarceration.
Article in BMC international health and human rights, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2020Pooled it
- Co-production and adaptation of a prison-based problem-solving workbook to support the mental health of patients housed within a medium- and low-secure forensic service.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Trial
- Comparison of Audiovisual and Paper-Based Materials for 1-Time Informed Consent for Research in Prison: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Understanding the nexus between gender-based violence and mental health among Anglophone internally displaced women in Littoral Cameroon through an intersectional socioecological lens.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Understanding the nexus between gender-based violence and mental health among Anglophone internally displaced women in Littoral Cameroon through an intersectional socioecological lens.Research square · 2026Article
- Healthcare in a system of punishment: how clinicians experience care work within carceral settings.Health & justice · 2026Article
- Oral health and background characteristics in a prison population: the PriOH study.Acta odontologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- A journey towards a trauma informed and responsive Justice system: the perspectives and experiences of senior Justice workers.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Identifying Bias at Scale in Clinical Notes Using Large Language Models.Mayo Clinic proceedings. Digital health · 2025Article
- Developing Safewards Secure for Mental Health Prison Units Using a Nominal Group Technique.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- An exploration of nursing students' lived experience of clinical placement in adult male prisons: A phenomenological study.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Does attitude importance moderate the effects of person-first language? A registered report.PloS one · 2025Article
- Establishing best-practice statements for post-custody community transition: Insights from a modified Delphi study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Dehumanization and the Association With Nonsuicidal Self-Injury and Suicidal Ideation in an Incarcerated Population.Crisis · 2024Article
- Co-designing a film showcasing the dental experiences of community returners (ex-offenders).Frontiers in oral health · 2024Article
- Does attitude importance moderate the effects of person-first language? A registered report.PloS one · 2024Article
- A multi-level intervention to reduce the stigma of substance use and criminal involvement: a pilot feasibility trial protocol.Health & justice · 2023Article
- Experiences of Justice-Involved People Transitioning to HIV Care in the Community After Prison Release in Lusaka, Zambia: A Qualitative Study.Global health, science and practice · 2023Article
- Challenges to Reintegration: A Qualitative Intrinsic Case-Study of Convicted Female Sex Traffickers.Feminist criminology · 2023Article
- Motivating change in resident language use through narrative medicine workshops.BMC medical education · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWords matter when describing people involved in the criminal justice system because language can have a significant impact upon health, wellbeing, and access to health information and services. However, terminology used in policies, programs, and research publications is often derogatory, stigmatizing, and dehumanizing. DISCUSSION: In response, health experts from Europe, the United States, and Australia recommend that healthcare professionals, researchers, and policy makers working with people in detention follow key principles that foster constructive and humanizing language. These principles include: engage people and respect their preferences; use stigma-free and accurate language; prioritize individuals over their characteristics; and cultivate self-awareness. The article offers examples of problematic terms to be avoided because they do not convey respect for incarcerated people and propose preferred wording which requires contextualization to local language, culture, and environment.
conclusionThe use of respectful and appropriate language is a cornerstone of reducing harm and suffering when working with people involved in the criminal justice system; the use of stigmatizing and dehumanizing language must therefore come to an end.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.