V.ALUM 2023
Looking underneath the scar tissue Why lawyer wellbeing matters— Professor Yvette Tinsley and Dr Nichola Tyler.
It is no secret the legal profession has higher than average levels of stress and wellbeing problems. Reports in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas consistently document that lawyers are an occupational group at one of the highest risks of poor mental health, stress, and burnout. The potential for negative outcomes for individuals, firms, and the profession are beginning to be acknowledged. It is widely accepted that those in caring professions who are exposed to other people’s grief and trauma experience detrimental effects on their own wellbeing. Lawyers working in areas such as criminal and family law therefore experience a ‘double whammy’ of occupational stress and exposure to potentially traumatic material. Our research team spoke to 90 criminal lawyers working in both prosecution and defence, finding that they struggled to maintain wellbeing. Our criminal courts are places steeped in emotion, where the worst of human experiences play out in a purposely objective manner.
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There is a professional expectation that lawyers and judges will suppress displays of emotion, resulting in an occupational cultural belief that building scar tissue—a ‘thick skin’— is both an aspiration and a necessity. Unfortunately, this building of scar tissue does not attend to the wounds underneath or prevent further cuts. The responsibility of caring for those who are vulnerable is felt intensely by criminal lawyers, and the complex set of interpersonal, legal, and communication skills required to do their job can take an emotional toll when dealing with the experiences and emotions of victims, defendants, and witnesses. Lawyers work long, often irregular, hours, making it difficult to maintain personal relationships. Not only this, but many reported their job had changed their world view in ways that limited how they lived their life and the decisions they made about their children. Most criminal lawyers we spoke to felt less trusting of others as a consequence of their job, becoming hypervigilant and sometimes fearing being home alone.
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