The Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) is no longer calling convicted criminals “offenders.”
DOC Secretary Richard Morgan sent a memo to the Washington State Department of Corrections staff that said the DOC is phasing out the use of the word “offender” and replacing it with terms like “individual,” “student,” or “patient,” KIRO reports.
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“This is an opportunity to help others define themselves not for their criminal behavior, but for their future role in their communities,” Morgan said in the memo.
In the 2000s, the DOC used the word “offender” to replace “inmate.”