What is Lived Experience?

Lived experience is a popular concept applied in a wide range of disciplines especially the ones which involve social justice. The term ‘lived experience’ is mostly used to refer to the first-hand impressions, experiences and accounts of living as a member of a given status in a society (Reid & Flowers, 2013, p. 19). The ideology is predominantly used in minority society membership. For instance, women in the past have described what exactly it feels like to live in a male-dominated society. These accounts express their lived experiences. Critically, justice is inseparable with lived experiences and can never be achieved unless the criminology practitioners have a sound understanding of the realities outside theory. As much as the theories offer an ideal framework for objectifying criminal justice problems, they hardly create an exact picture of the motivations leading to the problems. Lived experience acts not only as a lens for assessing criminal actions but also as a representation of the subjects’ options, influences, choices, human experiences, knowledge and perceptions (Given, 2012, p. 1). Lived experience establishes a link between the experiences of the justice system and subjects. Ideally, most of the contemporary criminal justice problems result from the desire to gratify certain pleasures of the skin or the unawareness of the boundary between the fantasy and real worlds.

Criminology of the skin is associated with the embodied emotions and pleasures which are normally generated by certain forms of criminal actions (Lupton, 2012). Our bodies possess some underlying motivations that attract us to crime convincing us that the activity will be ultimately rewarding. Some criminal actions are as a result of apparently magical events necessitated by sensual dynamics. Such criminal pursuits offer the criminal an avenue an authentic and extremely passionate experience. From this line of reasoning, it can be concluded that some criminal actions are embedded in the senses of a human being and are sometimes not easy to escape.

Hyperreality refers to the inability of the conscious domain of the mind to establish a distinction between the world of reality from simulation and the real/ ideal world (Lyng, 2014, p. 18). The reality from simulation or fantasy occurs especially due to the technological advancements in the real world. Hyperreality is used to describe a condition whereby there is no boundary between reality and fantasy. If any distinction exists between the two in the condition it is usually very thin and hence one can end up thinking that they are blended together without the knowledge of where one ends and where the other starts. Hyperreality allows the mingling of the virtual reality with the physical reality and artificial intelligence with human intelligence. As a result, an individual can find himself or herself involved more in the hyperreal world than in the physical real world. Hyperreality presupposes that some criminal actions are not as a result of will but rather a representation of the fictional world.

Criminology of the Skin and Criminal Behavior

Borrowing from the universals of human nature, it can be concluded that every human being is subject to criminal activities prompted by the motivations embedded in the human skin. We all at some point want to take risks voluntarily. This is at times motivated by the need to be associated by a certain social group. Although one could have the firsthand that the activity is unlawful, they may still go ahead to performing hoping to escape the law or even go unnoticed (King, 2012, p. 3). Criminals imprisoned for criminal acts such as illicit drug use and stealing report that they were overwhelmed by the desire to foster friendships, escape boredom or even belong to a certain group. Criminology of the skin could also be used to explain the involvement in extreme sports such as base jumping and skydiving. The engagement in these seemingly violent activities helps in obstructing the powerful emotions such as rage and grief which could be as a result of abuse family problems. Risk taking in this perspective is thought to be an avenue of getting livelier.

The desire to feel different and powerful is a universal human need that everyone can relate with (Paul, 2017). The criminal justice practitioners are also confronted by such desires. Hence, this could help them address criminal justice problems more fairly as they too experience what the offenders experience. Perhaps it is only the dimension or magnitude that varies placing them in a much safer zone than the criminals. Putting this into consideration will help address many unsolved questions within the criminal justice systems. It is part of the entire human nature to feel increasingly disempowered and always find a means to feel close to the desired peer group.

While the criminals could have yielded to desires of an extreme level, it does not mean that they are social misfits. The extreme to which we all act varies largely depending on one’s experiences (Ryan, 2012). The criminals could have been confronted by extreme emotions hence their overreaction. Once the understanding that yielding to pleasures is a human behaviour is created, a more fair justice system will be established. Once the departments in the justice system embrace this belief, they will work hard towards minimizing the desires rather than incarcerating those who yield to them. The law enforcers will also get to know the life experiences that lead to transgression.

Generally speaking, the concept of criminology of the skin demonstrates the need to lay more emphasis on the embodied character of criminal behaviour and reveals the manner in which these patterns evidence themselves in the criminal justice system. The rebellious responses due to colonization or oppression are important implications in this aspect. Certainly, if we do not repress our body pleasures we could all end up yielding to violent criminal pleasures.

Hyper-Reality and the Blurring of Reality and Fantasy

To begin with, the contemporary world has become so unreal such that only a few individuals lead their real lives. This has been necessitated by the rapidly growing technologies that tend to frame some deconstructed reality to the consumers. People in the modern world are hardly honest with their physical world and exist seemingly in the world of fantasy. People go as far as doing mischievous things in order to convince the world that they are leading an admirable life. Everyone can relate to what it feels like to be an object of admiration. This ideology has had a great influence on the development of modern reality shows. Most of these shows are never a true reflection of what the real lives that the hosts live behind the scenes. The viewers go-ahead to adopt these simulated lifestyles and could do anything just to reproduce exactly the same. In this perspective, criminal actions could be attributed to the world of fantasy.

Hyper-reality is an important aspect and an ideal paradigm to explain the prevailing conditions in the criminal justice systems (Baker, 2012, p. 9). The human nature tends to rely more on the sign of exchange value whereby material belongings are seeking to detach people from their reality. For instance, some cars are viewed as more fashionable than others and hence signal the possession of a huge amount of wealth. Consequently, power is measured in terms of the worth of a person materialistically. Hence, one must attain some financial stability in order to rule over others. Essentially, happiness and self-fulfilment are thought to be achieved through excessive simulation of fantasy and repressing the reality rather than embracing the existing reality.

Much often, these demands and desire for recognition drive people to lawfully unacceptable behaviours such as excessive drug intake, gambling and even robbery with violence. Unlike in the past when one could tell off an offender from an innocent person, in the current status, anyone can be a suspect and a criminal. Criminal behaviour is no longer thought of as a character of a specific group in the society. Gang membership has diversified and despite the gang members stepping out in luxurious cars, the can hardly pay for their lifestyles without being engaged in unlawful activities. Initially, the society had a sense of isolating offenders such that a criminal should fit in a certain description. The game of gambling for instance, despite being illegal, attracts unbelievably a wide range of players. Nearly every person is a subject to gambling addiction owing to the fact that one will not have to work extra hard to lead a flashy lifestyle. However, it results in irresponsible behaviour that could cost one both family and a promising career.  Even though gambling could at times give some quick money, it usually results in unlawful practices such as stealing and violence. All these activities are performed in order to keep pace with the fantasy life mainly propagated through the media. This creates the presupposition that one could work less hard and still afford all the expensive materials in the world.

The Universal Desire for Perfect Lives

The fact that this is a universal experience calls for a re-examination of the justice systems to address the root causes of the problems in order to ensure that they do not occur in future. Basically, the reality that we all desire perfect lives should be understood from an individual level because it is an aspect of human life. Later on, alternatives should be given. Precisely, most of the people who admire these flashy lives are youths who can hardly table a meal since they do not even have a job. They hate the reality that they are both poor and jobless and resolve to fake life.

Ideally, the ultimate solution to criminal justice problems is addressing issues from the perspective, more importantly, using the universal lens. While the worth of lived experience is often overlooked in the justice systems, it is the only avenue that could help create opportunities. Most criminals just react to the extremes or even lack the opportunities to aid them to lead better lives free from criminal activity. This implies that there is, in fact, a need to transform the criminal justice system. However, the changes have to be initiated internally if at all much success is to be acquired (Webster, 2017). In the absence of firsthand information on some experiences, the necessary personnel should be contacted. The ex-offenders could be of great relevance in reforming the criminal justice departments. There are numerous of them working in the department and are usually very resourceful in experience-based decision making. Their effect should be felt even more following the modern trends in the criminology sector. They ought to share with fellow stakeholders the motives towards criminal behaviour as well as what it exactly feels to be a criminal in the public arena. Unless some shared knowledge is established between the criminal activities and the criminal justice systems, the existing problems will take centuries to be solved. Both criminal behaviour and the justice system should be made to exist harmoniously since transgression is a human aspect (Healey-Ogden & Austin, 2011, p. 1). However, the latter should devise means to suppress the latter in more appropriate ways apart from just locking up the offenders. The motivations arousing criminal behaviours should be minimized by creating equal opportunities for all. The only reason why some people lead more righteous lives than others is that their criminal aspects are suppressed by the opportunities that they have.

Conclusion

Conclusively, lived experience plays an important role in criminal justice systems. Understanding the aspects of hyper-reality and criminology of the skin serves as an avenue to establishing a connection between the system and individual offenders. Criminal justice practitioners get to appreciate the fact that criminal behaviour is both an inherent feature as well as a nurtured aspect through the simulation of the world. This knowledge is very critical to treating each particular case independently through first understanding the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations

References

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