Article 26: Beyond Tokenism: Integrating Convict Perspectives into Evidence-Based Correctional Policy and Practice

Over the past three decades, fields such as education, medicine, social work, and criminology/criminal justice have increasingly acknowledged the value of integrating lived experience into knowledge production and professional practice. In corrections, this trend is exemplified by Convict Criminology, which emphasizes the voices and experiences of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in scholarly research, mentorship, and activism. Yet, integrating these perspectives faces persistent challenges, including the conflation of practitioner experience with lived experience and the demand for robust empirical evidence to justify such approaches. This paper critically examines these challenges and outlines strategies for incorporating formerly incarcerated individuals into correctional program design and policy development. It presents evidence-based frameworks for utilizing their expertise in the corrections field, offers practical guidelines for mentorship programs that bridge academic research and practitioner knowledge, and suggests methods for overcoming professionals’ resistance within correctional institutions to such integration. By doing so, this paper contributes to the growing movement toward more humane, effective, and socially just correctional policy and practice.