Beyond Autoethnography: Lived Experience Criminology

Session Submission Type: Pre-arranged Panel

Abstract

Beyond Autoethnography: Lived Experience Criminology is a groundbreaking edited volume that redefines criminological inquiry by centering the human narratives at the heart of the criminal legal system. The book transcends traditional autoethnographic methods, presenting a new paradigm—lived experience criminology—that integrates personal accounts from policing, courts, corrections, and community corrections. The collection brings together diverse voices including law enforcement personnel, legal practitioners, and individuals with firsthand experiences of the criminal legal system, thereby bridging the gap between abstract theory and the lived realities of those impacted by the criminal legal system. While we recognise the varying experiences that stem from within criminal legal contexts, giving weight, care and attention to those who have faced firsthand experienced the harms of the system, as criminologists who are interested in making changes to reduce the harms of the system we recognise the need to understand our problems more holistically. Contributors employ a range of innovative theoretical frameworks—from Actor-Network Theory and assemblage theory to feminist epistemologies and phenomenology—to interrogate systemic issues such as workplace discrimination, neurodiversity, and the human costs of punitive policies. The volume also highlights transformative initiatives like prison radio and community-led projects that advocate for policy reform and a more empathetic approach to justice. By illuminating the intricate interplay between institutional practices and individual experiences, this book calls for a reconceptualisation of criminal legal contexts that is human-centred, making it an essential resource for academics, practitioners, and policymakers dedicated to developing sustainable reforms.

Subtopic

• Topic 1: Perspectives on Crime and Criminal Behavior / Critical Criminology

Chairs

• Dwayne Antojado, University of South Australia

• Matthew Maycock, Monash University

• Danica Darley, The University of Sheffield

Individual Presentations

• Connecting the Continuum: Women’s Ways of Knowing and the Criminal Courts - Danica Darley, The University of Sheffield; Sarah Waite, Leeds Trinity University

• From Prison to Halfway House: Using Lived Experience and Feminist Co-Ethnography to Reform Community Corrections - Libby Catchings, University of Denver; Joy B. Phelan, University of Denver

• Resisting carceral colonialism through lived experience in night patrol research - Thalia Anthony, University of Technology Sydney; Juanita Sherwood, University of Technology Sydney; Vanessa Napaltjari Davis, Charles Darwin University

• Multiplicity in Lived Experience Criminology: Resisting a Discursive Monolith - Matthew Maycock, Monash University; Dwayne Antojado, University of South Australia