Multiplicity in Lived Experience Criminology: Resisting a Discursive Monolith

• In Event: Beyond Autoethnography: Lived Experience Criminology

Abstract

This paper explores the emerging field of lived experience criminology (LEC) by interrogating how subjective narratives of incarceration and marginalisation are both mobilised for and constrained by institutional power. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory—particularly Lacan’s triad of the Imaginary, Symbolic, and Real—the authors examine how formerly marginalised individuals, now occupying roles as both service users and professionals, negotiate the tensions between personal testimony and the creation of a collective “shared typical” narrative. The paper argues that while aggregating lived experiences into common frameworks can galvanise policy advocacy and reform, it also risks oversimplifying the rich diversity of individual realities and perpetuating exclusionary epistemic practices. By integrating insights from Actor-Network Theory and agonistic approaches, the authors underscore the importance of recognising and preserving the multiplicity of voices within LEC. They caution against the commodification and regulatory assimilation of lived experience knowledge, which may silence the unassimilated, more complex dimensions of personal trauma and resistance. Ultimately, the paper calls for a dynamic, inclusive approach to criminological scholarship—one that remains critically attuned to the ethical and political challenges of representing lived experience, and that fosters transformative dialogues aimed at redistributing power and challenging oppressive institutional frameworks.

Authors

• Matthew Maycock, Monash University

• Dwayne Antojado, University of South Australia