Autoethnographic Notes on Role-conflict in Lived Experience: The Case of the Formerly-incarcerated Researcher

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

Abstract

After graduating from Bard College with a degree in mathematics, Mr. Sanchez embarked on a career as a research assistant with a project examining indigent defense services. As a person with a quarter century of lived experience while incarcerated, he reflects here on the interaction between that experience, and his subsequent one as a researcher. He reflects on the nature of expertise, on the nature of bias, and the lack of integration between research into systems – such as that he is now conducting – and the lives and experiences of people impacted by those systems – one of whom Mr. Sanchez still is.

Authors

• Carlos Sanchez, SMU Dedman School of Law

• Andrew L. Davies, Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center, SMU Dedman School of Law