Navigating lived experiences: Professional entanglements and the role of Project Rebound

• In Event: DCS Handbook on Lived Experience: Lived Experience as a Research Tool

Abstract

Reentry studies that examine incarceration and post-incarceration experiences often incorporate theoretical models but exclude the perspectives of the populations that they study. In this reflection essay, we discuss the experiences of the system-impacted scholars, survivors, and formerly incarcerated staff and faculty who work for Project Rebound (a campus-based reentry program) at California State University, San Bernardino. We first define and describe our conception of “lived experience.” Then, we discuss how our lived experiences act as a motivating factor to work and publish in the field of social work education and reentry scholarship. We seek to integrate the voices of those directly or indirectly impacted by incarceration and embrace the reality of how our lived experience has been and continues to be a driving force for justice work in the Inland Empire.

Authors

• Annika Yvette Anderson, California State University, San Bernardino

• Michael Griggs, California State University, San Bernardino

• Carolyn McAllister, California State University, San Bernardino