How much does the label matter? It does, but maybe not as much as you think.
For years, advocates, including FAC, have encouraged the use of person-first language when talking about people on the sex offense registry. Instead of labels like “sex offender,” terms such as “registered citizen” or “person forced to register” have been used in an effort to reduce stigma and remind the public that people are more than the worst thing they have ever done. The belief has been that changing the language could help change attitudes, encourage more humane treatment, and support successful reintegration into society.
But this new study, Changing Language May Not Be Enough to Change Public Perceptions of Individuals Who Sexually Offend, raises an uncomfortable question. What if changing the words makes little or no difference at all?
We didn’t expect a full pendulum-swing, but researchers in this study found that participants continued to hold overwhelmingly negative views regardless of whether stigmatizing labels or person-first language was used. The findings suggest that while respectful language may still matter from a human dignity standpoint, language alone is not enough to overcome deeply rooted public attitudes.
If that is true, then perhaps instead of spending so much energy trying to find the perfect label, it may be more important for people affected by the registry to stop living in the shadows and start telling their stories publicly. The public rarely hears about the father who cannot attend his child’s school event, the elderly registrant who is homeless because of residency restrictions, the veteran who cannot find work decades after an offense, or the spouse and children who quietly suffer alongside them. Most people only hear about the worst headlines, so those headlines become the entire narrative.
Changing perceptions require something far more powerful than terminology: visibility, familiarity, and human connection. When people hear real stories from real individuals, it becomes harder to reduce them to a stereotype. It becomes harder to believe every person on a registry is a monster lurking in the shadows when the person speaking is a grandfather, a church volunteer, or someone who has spent decades offense-free trying to rebuild a life. Public opinion often changes not because language changes first, but because people are forced to confront realities that challenge their assumptions.
That does not mean labels are meaningless. Respectful language still matters because it reflects basic dignity and humanity. But this study suggests advocates should not assume language alone will transform public attitudes. Real change may come when more people are willing to step forward, speak openly, and allow the public to see the human beings behind the label — whatever that label happens to be.
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I have been trying to convince people for some time (some of you who know me know this) that there is only ONE name we should call ourselves, and that is LAW ABIDING CITIZENS. Unlike the other monikers that have been suggested like PFR, rather than making us sound whiny and aggrieved, LAW ABIDING CITIZENS is assertive an forces the listener to consider, if only for a moment, who we really are.
We are the LAW ABIDING CITIZENS. We should start calling every state registry the LAW ABIDING CITIZENS registry. We should start submitting legislation in every state that changes the name of (and all other relevant references within) every state SOR law to the LAW ABIDING CITIZENS Registry (LACR).
I can assure you, in the age of 24/7 news, cell phones and social media, the label matters more than you think. You just can’t “carry on” and pretend that animosity and ill-will is not being directed towards you.
“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” M. Twain
Trying to change people perceptions falls squarely in game theory IMO. The prisoners dilemma , and the ultimatum game to be specific. Media has conditioned society that sex offender and pedophile are synonymous. Creating a segregated cast that is judged upon simply gaining the knowledge that someone has been labeled.
The only way I have found to change someone preconceived notion, is to get them to reevaluate you under a different microscope. Change the focus. A method I found that works well is to make them consider the fairness of the punishment. My consistent go to is ” Had I murdered someone, I could have done THAT 3 times (coming up on 4), and be done registering and able to murder again !”
It’s a slap in the face moment, where their own safety is suddenly in question by someone not present with more violent tendencies, than by someone who is likely the person they know and being rational right in front of them.
Changing perceptions comes from within, not from the language. If anything in the USA, we have seen this first hand and know people won’t change without wanting to change regardless of labels.