Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 32(1), Feb 2026, 37-47; doi:10.1037/law0000468
Wrongfully convicted individuals are often treated as if they were truly guilty of the crimes they did not commit. It is possible that our language, the labels we use to refer to individuals erroneously involved in the criminal legal system, is contributing to this stigma. Moreover, it is unknown if these labels, which originated in different fields and practices, are being used the same way in psychology. The present study reviews how researchers are currently defining the labels innocent/innocence, miscarriage of justice, wrongfully convicted/wrongful conviction, and exoneree/exoneration within the psychological literature. The final sample included 276 PsycINFO articles that included one or more of the target labels in the work’s title. Content and thematic analyses of the label definitions revealed that (a) 40% of the publications failed to define the labels used, (b) labels were frequently used interchangeably and/or to define one another, (c) label meanings were inconsistent across the sample, and (d) none of the labels seemed to capture all nonculpable individuals erroneously involved in the criminal legal system while excluding the individuals culpable for the crimes for which they were accused. Our language imprecision is discussed in regard to the potential for confusion and stigma, as well as the potential consequences of excluding certain individuals who were nonetheless erroneously involved in the criminal legal system from seeking and/or obtaining assistance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)