What does an "ex-offender" look like?
For our purposes, it means someone who has been Caught and convicted of committing a crime. This could mean anything from someone who spent time in prison, through to speeding points.
1 in 4 adults in the UK are considered to have a criminal conviction. This may even include you!
As people with lived experience of the criminal justice system, we prefer the term: People with criminal convictions However, as this can be quite a mouthful and a lot to type, and because the common lexicon term is “ex-offender” you will see us using this term interchangeably.
Terminology when speaking to someone with a conviction
When we are talking to individuals who have a criminal conviction there are a lot of different phrases that people can use. Think about the terminology you are using and how this may have a negative impact on the individual.
As a society we hear people using terminology such as criminal, paedophile or offender.
Think about how we engage with individuals and consider more appropriate terminology such as:
- Person with a conviction
- Person with a sexual offence
- Person with lived experience of the justice system