Journal article
“Fighting the Good Fight”: Why Do Public Defenders Remain on the Job?
Criminal justice policy review, v 31(6), pp 939-961
01 Jul 2020
Abstract
In this article, we ask why public defenders remain on the job despite a number of unique and testing work-related challenges. To answer this question, we analyze original data collected through 87 semistructured interviews with public defenders from government, nonprofit, and appointed counsel systems across the United States. Participants explicated a set of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations salient to their decision to remain in public defense: interacting with clients, defending the Constitution, fighting social inequality, pursuing personal values, appreciating camaraderie with colleagues, and earning public sector benefits. We discuss how our findings relate to prior research, identify directions for future studies, and tentatively engage policy implications.
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12 citations in Scopus
Details
- Title
- “Fighting the Good Fight”: Why Do Public Defenders Remain on the Job?
- Creators
- Valerio Baćak - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseySarah E. Lageson - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyKathleen Powell - Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
- Publication Details
- Criminal justice policy review, v 31(6), pp 939-961
- Publisher
- Sage
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Criminology and Justice Studies
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85068936144
- Other Identifier
- 991021861903104721