Handbook on Lived Experience in the Justice System

Christopher P. Dum is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Kent State University. He is the author of the book, Exiled in America: Life on the Margins in a Residential Motel, published by Columbia University Press. His research examines issues around prison, reentry, and public opinion, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Ohio Attorney General. Dr. Dum has appeared on NPR’s Marketplace, as well as the Doc Project on CBC. In 2016, he co-founded the ID13 Prison Literacy Project, which works to amplify the voices of incarcerated writers.Jamie J. Fader is a Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University. She is the author of On Shifting Ground: Constructing Masculinity on the Margins (Univ. of California Press, 2024) and Falling Back: Incarceration and Transitions to Adulthood among Urban Youth (Rutgers University Press, 2013), which won the 2016 Hindelang Award for best book in the field. Dr. Fader’s research interests include the lived experiences of members of vulnerable groups in the criminal legal system, particularly adolescents and young adults. She is the founder of the Division of Qualitative Research of the American Society of Criminology.Thomas P. LeBel, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s Helen Bader School of Social Welfare. Dr. LeBel has lived experience with the criminal legal system and is the author or co-author of numerous publications about prisoner reintegration, desistance from crime, the stigma of incarceration, and incarcerated women with substance use disorders. Kevin A. Wright is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and is the Director of the Center for Correctional Solutions at Arizona State University. His work focuses on enhancing the lives of people living and working in the correctional system through research, education, and community engagement. He is co-author of Imprisoned Minds: Lost Boys, Trapped Men, and Solutions from Within the Prison (Rutgers University Press, 2025), lead-authored by a man incarcerated for life.

• Section 1: The Big Picture of Lived Experience1. What is More "Empirical" than Lived Experience?Jamie J. Fader2. Mapping Lived Experience Contributions to Criminal JusticeGillian Buck3. Interrogating the Epistemic Politics of Lived Experience: Navigating Identity, Co-optation, and Intersectionality in Contemporary Criminological and Criminal Legal DiscourseDwayne Antojado and Jessica Budd4. Understanding Life Story and Narrative in Lived Experience Criminal Legal ScholarshipPhilip Mulvey, Leah Ouellet and Dan P. McAdams5. When the Shoe Doesn’t Fit: A Reflection on ‘Lived Experience’B. Williams and Mackenzie Niness6. #Blackvoicesmatter: Defining “Lived-Experience” Through a Collaborative, Black Insider-Outsider PerspectiveKadija Osei and Christopher HusbandsSection 2: Considerations for Lived Experience and Research7. Autoethnographic Notes on Role-Conflict in Lived Experience: The Case of the Formerly Incarcerated ResearcherCarlos Sanchez and Andrew Davies8. Navigating Lived Experiences: Professional Entanglements and the Role of Project ReboundAnnika Yvette Anderson, Michael Griggs and Carolyn McAllister9. Lived Experience Contributions to Reentry Research: Enhancing Context and MeaningKristin Stainbrook, Janeen Buck Willison, Pamela Keye and Grant Burton10. Incorporating Lived Experience in Research on PrisonsDavid Pitts11. Learned StrengthErik S. Maloney12. Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun: The Struggle for Incarcerated Voices to be HeardXavier Perez and Raul Dorado13. The Power of Lived ExperienceBrian Jones and Jennifer Cobbina-Dungy14. Elevating Lived Experience to Lived Expertise in Criminological ResearchHelen Skipper15. Teaching Criminology as a Formerly Incarcerated Person: The Gift and the CurseChris Miner16. Amplifying Lived Experience: Transforming the Criminal Legal System Through Training and Technical AssistanceTameka V. Williams and Lauren Henderson17. Peer Support During the Pandemic: Views from the InsideGillian McNaull, Shadd Maruna, Mark Johnson and Dan HuttSection 3: Lived Experience in Prison18. Living Without Parole: Assessing Life Sentences by People Who Live It and People Who Study ItShaun Mills, Erik Maloney, Cedric Rue, Kevin A. Wright and Cassia Spohn19. Putting the Person in the Picture: An Examination of the Lived Experience of Entry, Assimilation, and Adaptation on Death RowRobert Johnson, George T. Wilkerson and Moriah Sharpe20. Invisible or Purposely Neglected? Lessons from the Lived Experience of an Incarcerated WomanMyrna Diaz21. Lessons from Time: A Perspective about Sentencing, Education, and HopeMaria Montalvo22. Hospice in Prison: Compassion in ActionDavid Garlock, Dragana Derlic and Stuti Kokkalera23. Carceral Abandonment: The Real Punishment of the Contemporary Prison Sentence Timothy C. Malone24. Innate Health and Psychological Freedom in Prison: Narrative Co-Production of Transformative Self Following Childhood TraumaJeanne L. Catherine-Gray, Beto Contreras and Derrick Mason25. Prison Law Libraries and the Gender Gap in ExonerationsJill A. McCorkel and LaTonya Myers26. Media and Identity Dynamics in German Prisons: A Study of Lived Experience and “Exogration”Aaron Bielejewski27. Access Denied: Examining Control, Retribution, and Inequities in Prison ProgrammingVu Huynh, Tereza Trejbalová and Kimberly Kras28. Liminal Identities: Critically Reflecting on Lived Experience as Former Prison WorkersNicole Patrie and William Schultz29. "It Was a Risk, But It Was One I Was Willing to Take." The Experiences of Moving to be Closer to an Incarcerated Loved OneChristopher P. Dum30. The Lived Experiences of Families of People in PrisonJanani Umamaheswar and Arden Richards-KaramarkovichSection 4: Peer-Led Programs and Credible Messengers31. Walk Right Up to the Sun, Hand in Hand: The Power of Peer Mentorship in Facilitating the Successful Reentry of Former LifersChristian L. Bolden, Jennifer Roberts, Eve Thomas and Sawyer Castle32. Peer Support Services: A Comprehensive Review of the Corrections and Reentry Literature Hannah G. Cortina and Luke Muentner33. Exploring the Promise of Resident-Led Programs in Prison: Perspectives from Incarcerated Resident-LeadersRyan J. Schenk, William Davenport, Maurice Engelby, Ryan J. Krueger and Michael Hadnot34. Reintegrating Back into the Community: Heeding the Wisdom of Post-Release Case Managers with Lived ExperienceTim Goddard and Wendy Dressler35. Art and Autonomy: The Value of Peer-Led Art Programming in PrisonAlexis Klemm, Lizzette Peralta-Romero, Adrianne Acles and Jessica Coz36. A Conversation with Kurt Danysh, Director of the Cumberland House: A Peer-Led Reentry Intervention for Older, Recently Incarcerated MenDivine Lipscomb, Kurt M. Danysh, Kristina Brant, Andrea R. Hazelwood and Derek A. Kreager37. Empowering Change: Credible Messengers as Catalysts for Community TransformationRyan Flaco Rising and Ricardo Zepeda38. Hope and Help: Peer Support & Peer-Led Programs within Texas PrisonDanielle S. Rudes, Aaron Flaherty, Daniel Dickerson, Bryce Kushmerick-McCune, Chelsey Narvey, Sydney Ingel, Wyatt Brown, Alexa Mata and Jaylyn Magana39. DIY Education: System Affected Academics Building Educational Peer Support NetworksGrant Tietjen and Daniel KavishSection 5: Lived Experience and Education40. A Motley Crew: The Synergy of Sharing Lived Experience: The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program®Lori Pompa41. The Transformative Journey of Higher Education for Everyone in PrisonLyle C. May42. Researching Within Community: The Necessity of CPAR Partnerships and the Value of Lived Experience in Prison Education and Reentry ResearchNicole McKenna, Lalee Awad, Alessandra Milagros Early and Ebony Ruhland43. The Value of Garden-based Participatory Environmental Science Projects in California PrisonsLaci Gerhart, Heidi Ballard, Calliope Correia, Joshua Johnson, Ryan Meyer and Andrew Winn44. You Are About to Witness the Strength of Street Knowledge: How Formerly Incarcerated Latine Students Utilize Their Lived Experience to Navigate Higher EducationJoe Louis Hernandez and Kriistal Arpi Bilderbach45. “C.O., Can I Get an Unlock?” An Inside Look at Prison ProgrammingSilvia Castillo, Gabe Collins, ShannaRai Diaz, Yaritzel Guerrero-Montoya, Madison Hatfield, Vu Huynh, Martha Ponce, JohnMichael Price, Kimberly Kras and Alan Mobley46. “I Am in Jail on Tuesdays”: An Insider-Outsider Perspective on Institutional EducationJennifer LantermanSection 6: Lived Experience and Re(integration)47. To Tell or Not To Tell? Justice-Impacted Individuals’ Use of Concealment/ Disclosure as a Stigma-Management StrategyThomas P. LeBel48. Professionally Formerly IncarceratedEnrique Olivares-Pelayo49. Credible but Vulnerable: Navigating the Challenges and Risks in Community Violence PreventionPeter Simonsson, Quinzel Tomoney, Peter Twigg, ShaKia Fudge, Caterina Roman and Shadd Maruna50. Desistance and Masculinities: Being Oneself Post IncarcerationRuth Utnage and Rosemary Ricciardelli51. Simulating the Lived ExperienceAlesa Liles, Stacy Moak and Dena Dickerson52. The Meaning and Importance of Lived Experience: Insights from the Lenses of Two People on Parole in New JerseyStephon Whitley, Audrey Wilson and Nathan W. Link53. Beyond the Verdict: Navigating the Long-Term Consequences of Wrongful Convictions on Reentry, Employment, and IdentityDanielle M. Thomas, Jessica Grosholz and Walter Dunn54. Reflections on What Lived Experience Means for a Correctional Unit Officer and Justice-Involved Individual: The Genesis of Empatherapy and Peer Supporter Academy in Singapore Prison ServiceChua Yong An and Andrew Joseph NgSection 7: Lived Experience and Engagement in Criminal Legal System Reform55. Experience for Justice: How Lived Experience is Changing Ideas about Criminal Justice and Criminology in the UKE4J Collective: Scott Kidd, Rod Earle, Laura Sheffield-Kidd, Gillian Buck, Shadd Maruna, Paula Harriott, Danica Darley, Lucy Campbell, Max Dennehy, Fleur Riley and Donna Arrondelle56. Why Convict Criminology MattersJeffrey Ian Ross57. Voices from Within: Using Lived Experience to Reform Laws, Policies, and Reentry Requirements for Individuals Convicted of a Sex Offense (ICSO)Jaclyn Truman, Meghan M. Mitchell, Madeline Lewis and Mathew Neary58. The Traits They Bring: How Jurors with a Carceral History Envisage Jury ServiceJames M. Binnall and Sonali Chakravarti59. Lived Experience Can Inform Reentry Programs Inside of Prison for Individuals Sentenced to LifeBrittany Ripper, Lewis Whitmire, Phillip Vance Smith II, Moriah Sharpe, Rachel Leopold and Robert Johnson60. Challenging the Routine of Incarceration for Young Black Men in PhiladelphiaYah'aair Black, Rodney Gardner, Neshaun Sephes, James Aye, Kendra Van de Water, Kadelia George, Chloe Sierka, Autumn Talley and Caterina G. Roman