The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality

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 attorney...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social forces 2024-02
Main Authors: Baćak, Valerio, Lageson, Sarah Esther, Powell, Kathleen
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
cited_by
cites cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c120t-9b7d35f4e54536cb49898c53f930c0933d4cda7c29d58eb0e8dd3ff31b59ca9c3
container_end_page
container_issue
container_start_page
container_title Social forces
container_volume
creator Baćak, Valerio
Lageson, Sarah Esther
Powell, Kathleen
description 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.
doi_str_mv 10.1093/sf/soae027
format article
fullrecord <record><control><sourceid>crossref</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_crossref_primary_10_1093_sf_soae027</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><sourcerecordid>10_1093_sf_soae027</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c120t-9b7d35f4e54536cb49898c53f930c0933d4cda7c29d58eb0e8dd3ff31b59ca9c3</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNotkMFOwzAQRC0EEqVw4Qt8RgpdZ-065lYVCpUqgaCcI8dei1RpAnZy6N83FT3NZd5I8xi7F_AowOAshVnqLEGuL9hEKJSZnoO6ZBMA1JnWmF-zm5R2ACCkLCbsc_tD_KuPlBLvAl-3uyH1taMn_jFUTe34MwVqPcXEbet5P7ZXsWv7pm7pBCz2FGtn25Gkv8E2dX-4ZVfBNonuzjll36uX7fIt27y_rpeLTeZEDn1mKu1RBUlKKpy7SprCFE5hMAhu_IJeOm-1y41XBVVAhfcYAopKGWeNwyl7-N91sUspUih_Y7238VAKKE82yhTKsw08Avs4VFU</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Aggregation Database</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype></control><display><type>article</type><title>The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality</title><source>Project Muse:Jisc Collections:Project MUSE Journals Agreement 2024:Premium Collection</source><source>Oxford Journals Online</source><creator>Baćak, Valerio ; Lageson, Sarah Esther ; Powell, Kathleen</creator><creatorcontrib>Baćak, Valerio ; Lageson, Sarah Esther ; Powell, Kathleen</creatorcontrib><description>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.</description><identifier>ISSN: 0037-7732</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1534-7605</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1093/sf/soae027</identifier><language>eng</language><ispartof>Social forces, 2024-02</ispartof><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c120t-9b7d35f4e54536cb49898c53f930c0933d4cda7c29d58eb0e8dd3ff31b59ca9c3</cites><orcidid>0000-0002-4108-4365</orcidid></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><link.rule.ids>314,776,780,27901,27902</link.rule.ids></links><search><creatorcontrib>Baćak, Valerio</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Lageson, Sarah Esther</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Powell, Kathleen</creatorcontrib><title>The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality</title><title>Social forces</title><description>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.</description><issn>0037-7732</issn><issn>1534-7605</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2024</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><recordid>eNotkMFOwzAQRC0EEqVw4Qt8RgpdZ-065lYVCpUqgaCcI8dei1RpAnZy6N83FT3NZd5I8xi7F_AowOAshVnqLEGuL9hEKJSZnoO6ZBMA1JnWmF-zm5R2ACCkLCbsc_tD_KuPlBLvAl-3uyH1taMn_jFUTe34MwVqPcXEbet5P7ZXsWv7pm7pBCz2FGtn25Gkv8E2dX-4ZVfBNonuzjll36uX7fIt27y_rpeLTeZEDn1mKu1RBUlKKpy7SprCFE5hMAhu_IJeOm-1y41XBVVAhfcYAopKGWeNwyl7-N91sUspUih_Y7238VAKKE82yhTKsw08Avs4VFU</recordid><startdate>20240219</startdate><enddate>20240219</enddate><creator>Baćak, Valerio</creator><creator>Lageson, Sarah Esther</creator><creator>Powell, Kathleen</creator><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4108-4365</orcidid></search><sort><creationdate>20240219</creationdate><title>The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality</title><author>Baćak, Valerio ; Lageson, Sarah Esther ; Powell, Kathleen</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c120t-9b7d35f4e54536cb49898c53f930c0933d4cda7c29d58eb0e8dd3ff31b59ca9c3</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2024</creationdate><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Baćak, Valerio</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Lageson, Sarah Esther</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Powell, Kathleen</creatorcontrib><collection>CrossRef</collection><jtitle>Social forces</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Baćak, Valerio</au><au>Lageson, Sarah Esther</au><au>Powell, Kathleen</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality</atitle><jtitle>Social forces</jtitle><date>2024-02-19</date><risdate>2024</risdate><issn>0037-7732</issn><eissn>1534-7605</eissn><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.</abstract><doi>10.1093/sf/soae027</doi><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4108-4365</orcidid></addata></record>
fulltext fulltext
identifier ISSN: 0037-7732
ispartof Social forces, 2024-02
issn 0037-7732
1534-7605
language eng
recordid cdi_crossref_primary_10_1093_sf_soae027
source Project Muse:Jisc Collections:Project MUSE Journals Agreement 2024:Premium Collection; Oxford Journals Online
title The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality
url http://sfxeu10.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/loughborough?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2025-01-28T13%3A34%3A27IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-crossref&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=The%20Stress%20of%20Injustice:%20Public%20Defenders%20and%20the%20Frontline%20of%20American%20Inequality&rft.jtitle=Social%20forces&rft.au=Ba%C4%87ak,%20Valerio&rft.date=2024-02-19&rft.issn=0037-7732&rft.eissn=1534-7605&rft_id=info:doi/10.1093/sf/soae027&rft_dat=%3Ccrossref%3E10_1093_sf_soae027%3C/crossref%3E%3Cgrp_id%3Ecdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c120t-9b7d35f4e54536cb49898c53f930c0933d4cda7c29d58eb0e8dd3ff31b59ca9c3%3C/grp_id%3E%3Coa%3E%3C/oa%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_id=info:pmid/&rfr_iscdi=true