Chapter 4: Researching Lived Experience With Lived Experience

This chapter critically reflects on the methodological journey of researching lived experience with lived experience. It examines the challenges, adaptations and ethical complexities of conducting qualitative research with a ‘hard-to-reach’ population – both prisoners and prison officers – while navigating the researcher’s own positionality as a former prisoner. It explores how the researcher occupies both insider and outsider statuses. In doing so, it considers the liminality of this space and the performativity of the betwixt and between, moving fluidly between roles depending on the research context. It considers the implications of this positionality on data collection, access and rapport-building, particularly in relation to recruitment challenges and the role of gatekeepers in facilitating engagement with prison officers. This chapter also details the methodological adaptations necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a shift from immersive ethnographic research within prisons to interviews conducted in community settings. This transformation aligns with the concept of research with ‘ethnographic edges’ (Davies, 2015), emphasising the importance of methodological flexibility in criminology. To navigate the emotional and ethical complexities of researching a shared experience, this chapter considers a reflexive framework, examining five interrelated themes: self-disclosure, rapport, reciprocity, emotional labour and ethical dilemmas. Through this lens, this chapter explores the tensions of researcher identity, the responsibilities of amplifying participant voices and the ‘ethical hangovers’ associated with fieldwork. Ultimately, this chapter argues that lived experience research is a dynamic and relational act, requiring deep reflexivity, ethical sensitivity and commitment to methodological adaptability.