Let the convicts speak: a critical conversation of the ongoing language debate in convict criminology

ABSTRACT

In 2020, some scholars publicly demanded that the newly established Division of Convict Criminology (DCC) of the American Society of Criminology (ASC) change its name. Critics asserted that the use of ‘convict’ caused further stigmatization of those of us with direct criminal justice experience. Unbeknownst to those critics, prior to the official formation of the DCC, the informal group known as Convict Criminology engaged in a decades long conversation about language and appropriate terminology. This paper responds to the critiques by exploring the power of language, summarizing various sides of the ongoing language debate, reviewing existing convict criminology research, and addressing structural violence within the academy. We conclude with a call to action that asks scholars to address the endemic structural violence in academia that perpetuates our oppression before attempting to police our language.

KEYWORDS:

• Convict Criminology
• Language
• Convict
• Structural Violence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Within this paper, direct system contact refers to people who are currently being prosecuted for a crime, and/or have been convicted of a crime and may or may not have been incarcerated. For those to whom incarceration applies, they may be currently or formerly incarcerated.

2. This paper also discusses how the use of convict by the founding Convict Criminologists may have simultaneously been both a form of language reclamation and an attempt at humanizing language.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer M. Ortiz

Jennifer M. Ortiz, Ph.D is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at Indiana University Southeast. Ortiz earned her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Her research interests center on structural violence within the criminal justice system with a focus on gangs and reentry post-incarceration. Ortiz’s most recent scholarship has been published in The Prison Journal and Corrections: Policy, Practice, and Research. In addition to her scholarship, Ortiz maintains a firm commitment to civil service and community activism. She serves as President of the New Albany, Indiana Human Rights Commission and as an executive board member for Mission Behind Bars and Beyond, a Kentucky based non-profit reentry organization. In recognition of her commitment to community service and activism, the Southern Indiana Business Magazine named Ortiz a 2019 Top 20 under 40 Business Professional and Indiana University awarded her the 2019 Chancellor’s Diversity Award. In 2020, Ortiz was selected to serve as Executive Counselor for the newly established Division of Convict Criminology of the American Society of Criminology. Twitter: @Ortiz_PhD

Alison Cox

Alison Cox, Ph.D is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Northern Iowa in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology. Her research interests include the prisoner-family relationship, re-entry/recidivism, emotionality in the criminal justice system, critical criminology (e.g., convict, feminist, queer, and rural), and qualitative methods. She recently published another co-authored project in a special issue of Criminal Justice Studies devoted to LGBTQ+ issues.

Daniel Ryan Kavish

Daniel Ryan Kavish, Ph.D is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Professor Kavish earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). In 2018, while serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Criminology at Lander University, Dr. Kavish received the Young Faculty Scholar award, Organization Advisor of the Year award, and was nominated twice for the Moore Award for Excellence in General Education Teaching. His research interests include criminological theory, deviant subcultures, masculinity, stigma, identity, Convict Criminology, and racial disparities in the criminal justice system. He is a member of the American Society of Criminology’s Division of Critical Criminology and Social Justice and serves on the editorial board for the division’s official peer-reviewed journal, Critical Criminology. Professor Kavish’s research and book reviews have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Crime & Delinquency, the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, Critical Issues in Justice and Politics, Contemporary Justice Review, and the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Grant Tietjen

Grant Tietjen, PhD is an Associate Professor in the St. Ambrose University–Davenport Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. Professor Tietjen earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He has written, researched, and lectured on convict criminology, mass incarceration, class inequality, criminological theory, and pathways to correctional/postcorrectional education. He has published in multiple peer reviewed journals, book chapters, and academic encyclopedias; with multiple works in progress. Tietjen’s most recent peer reviewed research has been published in The Prison Journal, and Critical Criminology. Additionally, he has given over 60 conference presentations, invited talks/public forums, and media interviews. Tietjen has been involved with the Convict Criminology (CC) group since 2005, mentoring new CC members, and serving as the group’s Co-Chair from 2017-2019. During this time, Tietjen has worked with many other dedicated CC members to strengthen the CC organization. Tietjen, along with many CC colleagues, has promoted rigorous scholarship, mentorship, ceaseless focus on diversity, and engaging in outreach with other scholarly groups as a means of moving CC forward. Further, in 2020, he was appointed the inaugural Chair of the newly formed American Society of Criminology Division of Convict Criminology.