Criminals & Prisoners

What subject headings are used to find materials on criminals and prisoners? What is the difference between the application of the two headings?
The subject heading Criminals is used for people who have committed or been convicted of committing a crime.

• Criminals (may geographically subdivide)

The following subdivisions may be used under the heading Criminals: –Identification, –Language, –Rehabilitation.

In addition to the heading Criminals, there are more narrow headings for criminals by ethnicity, religion, sex, age, and disability as well as type of crime.

 

• CRIMINALS BY ETHNICITY (may geographically subdivide):
  • African American criminals, Alien criminals, Asian American criminals, Chinese American criminals, Hispanic American criminals, Indian criminals, Irish American criminals, Italian American criminals, Japanese American criminals, Mexican American criminals, Russian American criminals, Vietnamese American criminals

• CRIMINALS BY RELIGION (may geographically subdivide):
  • Catholic criminals, Jewish criminals, Muslim criminals

• CRIMINALS BY SEX, AGE, DISABILITY (may geographically subdivide):
  • Deaf criminals, Female offenders, Juvenile delinquents, Mentally ill offenders, Offender with mental disabilities, Older offenders, Women war criminals

• TYPE OF CRIMINAL (may geographically subdivide):
  • Black marketers, Bravos, Commercial criminals, Computer hackers, Criminal snipers, Drug dealers, Drug couriers, First-time offenders, Fugitives from justice, Gangsters, Impostors and imposture, Murderers, Occasional criminals, Outlaws, Pimps, Rapists, Recidivists, Sex offenders, Smugglers, Stalkers, Stowaways, Swindlers and swindling, Terrorists, Thieves, **Violent offenders, War criminals

 

The heading Prisoners refers to people who are incarcerated. Merriam Webster defines a prisoner as “a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement, or custody; especially : one on trial or in prison.”

• Prisoners (may geographically subdivide)

The following subdivisions may be used under the heading Prisoners: –Abuse of, –Attitudes, –Civil rights, –Classification, –Correspondence, –Death, –Education, –Examination, –Language, –Legal status, laws, etc., –Sexual behavior, –Vocational education.
The following headings are free-floating under specific wars: –Prisoners and prisons, –Concentration camps.
In addition to the heading Prisoners, there are more narrow headings for prisoners by ethnicity, sex, age, and disability as well as type of prisoner.

 

• PRISONERS BY ETHNICITY (may geographically subdivide):
  • African-American prisoners; Asian American prisoners; Hispanic American prisoners; Indian prisoners; Mexican American prisoners; Pacific Islander American prisoners; Prisoners, **Aboriginal Australian; Prisoners, Foreign; Prisoners, Palestinian Arab

• PRISONERS BY SEX, AGE, DISABILITY (may geographically subdivide):
  • Male prisoners, Mentally ill prisoners, Older prisoners, Prisoners with disabilities, Transgender prisoners, Women concentration camp inmates, Women prisoners,
  • Women prisoners of war, Women death row inmates

• TYPE OF PRISONER (may geographically subdivide):
  • Concentration camp inmates, Death row inmates, Ex-convicts, Galley slaves, Political prisoners, Prisoners of war, Escaped prisoners of war

• MISCELLANEOUS:
  • Prisoners as artists
  • Prisoners as authors
  • Prisoners as consumers