Journal article
The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality
SOCIAL FORCES
19 Feb 2024
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Fairness in the criminal legal system is unattainable without effective legal representation of indigent defendants, yet we know little about the experience of attorneys who do this critical work. Using semi-structured interviews, our study investigated occupational stress in a sample of 78 attorneys representing indigent clients across the United States. We show how the chronic stressors experienced at work culminate in what we define as the stress of injustice: the social and psychological demands of working in a punitive system with laws and practices that target and punish those who are the most disadvantaged. Respondents positioned their professional stress around structural, not individual, aspects of the American criminal legal system, specifically punitive excess, underfunding of indigent defense, and the criminalization of mental illness and substance use. Working within these interrelated structural constraints makes public defenders highly vulnerable to stress and attrition.
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Details
- Title
- The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality
- Publication Details
- SOCIAL FORCES
- Publisher
- OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC; CARY
- Grant note
- We would like to thank Elizabeth Marshall for help with the initial design of the study, Ashley N. Jackson for assistance with data collection, and Jenny P. Andrews for inviting us to discuss our findings with public defenders in the BeWell Wednesdays series. We are also thankful for the feedback we received on the early stages of the manuscript from members of the Indigent Defense Research Association and especially Andrew Davies. The three anonymous reviewers have provided detailed, thoughtful, and valuable feedback-thank you. Many of their helpful suggestions directly appear in the text. Our biggest thanks go to our participants. This work was supported by the Rutgers University-Newark Chancellor's Seed Grant Program. Direct all correspondence to Valerio Bacak, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, 123 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102, USA; e-mail: valerio.bacak@rutgers.edu.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001169958500001
- Other Identifier
- 991021861303804721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Sociology