This book examines transitions from law school to the legal profession, and their impact on wellbeing. There is a significant body of evidence that suggests law student wellbeing is particularly problematic, partially due to the distinctive nature of law as a discipline. Similarly, there is a growing body of international evidence demonstrating poor levels of wellbeing within the legal profession, with lawyers suffering higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression than the general population. To date there has been no detailed consideration of the impact of these transitions on wellbeing, or discussion of the best ways to ameliorate any negative effects. This edited collection will explore a range of transitions, from entry into law school through to progression to managerial roles within the legal profession. Rather than focusing on discrete areas or chunks of time, this book focuses on the process of transitioning holistically.
Subverting the narrative that the legal profession must be austere and controlled, this prescient How To guide addresses the crucial need for holistic, trauma-centred law teaching. It advocates for a healthier, more inclusive profession by identifying strategies to engage, and even encourage, emotions within legal education.
This book aims to assist legal educators and law schools in integrating wellbeing within the design and delivery of the legal curriculum. It also encourages the evaluation of wellbeing-related initiatives, to develop an evidence-based, sustainable approach to its inclusion. The contributions to this volume each focus upon different aspects of wellbeing and the curriculum, including the applications of vulnerability and social identity theory, the role of transitions and inductions, the implementation and evaluation of law school wellbeing initiatives, reflections on both the Socratic method and assessment, the results of a longitudinal student study and a consideration of the legal profession’s perspective. They contain both theoretical and empirical evidence to support the development of wellbeing-informed teaching and learning and foster positive interactions and experiences for both staff and students. Taken together, and coupled with international perspectives, they provide evidence and examples to support a holistic approach to wellbeing in legal education which moves beyond simply ameliorating damaging impacts and instead identifies meaningful routes to fostering positive wellbeing. This volume will be of interest to legal academics and others with an interest in legal education, including legal professionals and law students. It will also appeal to those who have an interest in integrating wellbeing into the curriculum within higher education. This book was originally published as a special issue of The Law Teacher.
Legal professionals are thought to have higher levels of mental health issues and lower levels of wellbeing than the general population. Drawing on qualitative data from new research with legal practitioners, this in-depth study of mental health and wellbeing in the UK and Republic of Ireland’s legal sector is a timely contribution to the urgent international debate on these issues. The authors present a comprehensive discussion of the cultural, structural and other causes of legal professionals’ compromised wellbeing. They explore the everyday demands and difficulties of the legal working environment and consider the impacts on individuals, the legal profession and wider society. Making comparisons with systems overseas, this is an invaluable resource that provides evidence-based suggestions for swift and effective organisational and policy-related interventions in the legal sector.
Public and Environmental Health Law is a successor to Public Health Law and Regulation 2nd edition and offers a critical and up to date assessment of the legislation, cases and policies that impact on public health practice in Australia and New Zealand. As with earlier editions, this book outlines and discusses laws in a range of important areas including environmental health, food safety, communicable disease, obesity, tobacco and alcohol, the human health impacts of pollution control and planning law. Particular focus is given to new directions in public and environmental health law including the risk based approaches reflected in recent legislation and statutory duties to protect public health. New issues are also raised and discussed, including sustainability, the challenges of climate change, preparedness for pandemics and other public health emergencies and health impact assessment. Introductory chapters set public and environmental health law in the context of the wider legal system and discuss issues such as its constitutional structure, international trends and obligations, rights questions including natural justice and the proper exercise of statutory power by officers. The principles of legislation and its interpretation and the laws of evidence, with a particular focus on the use of epidemiological data as evidence, are also examined. Public and Environmental Health Lawis designed for students of environmental health and public health, for environmental health officers, medical officers and others working in the field and for all persons interested in the potential for law and legislation to further the practice of public health. It is written in a way that highlights the potential for law to act strategically, as a tool for improving public health outcomes, is extensively referenced to statutes and cases and is accompanied by a detailed bibliography.
This book examines transitions from law school to the legal profession, and their impact on wellbeing. There is a significant body of evidence that suggests law student wellbeing is particularly problematic, partially due to the distinctive nature of law as a discipline. Similarly, there is a growing body of international evidence demonstrating poor levels of wellbeing within the legal profession, with lawyers suffering higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression than the general population. To date there has been no detailed consideration of the impact of these transitions on wellbeing, or discussion of the best ways to ameliorate any negative effects. This edited collection will explore a range of transitions, from entry into law school through to progression to managerial roles within the legal profession. Rather than focusing on discrete areas or chunks of time, this book focuses on the process of transitioning holistically. .
This book provides a novel contribution to the wider bodies of literature on student and academic wellbeing by including a series of rich and nuanced discussions of specific aspects of the wellbeing of legal academics. It contains original research contributions on this topic drawing on insights from law, education and psychology and throws a spotlight on an emerging field of interest. In particular, it focuses attention on the need to understand the implications of workload, communication, competence, and community for academic wellbeing with the collection providing insight as to the amelioration of stress linked to these themes. Reference will be made to the key factors which influence each of these themes, such as the neo-liberal academy, the contours and staffing of the law school, the impact of COVID-19 and the role of values and ethics. Relevant theoretical perspectives relating to these themes, including self-determination theory and the notion of an ethic of care, will also be discussed.
Stress, Trauma, and Wellbeing in the Legal System presents theory, research, and scholarship from a variety of social scientific disciplines and offers suggestions for those interested in exploring and improving the wellbeing of those who are voluntarily or involuntarily drawn into the legal system.
Young adulthood - ages approximately 18 to 26 - is a critical period of development with long-lasting implications for a person's economic security, health and well-being. Young adults are key contributors to the nation's workforce and military services and, since many are parents, to the healthy development of the next generation. Although 'millennials' have received attention in the popular media in recent years, young adults are too rarely treated as a distinct population in policy, programs, and research. Instead, they are often grouped with adolescents or, more often, with all adults. Currently, the nation is experiencing economic restructuring, widening inequality, a rapidly rising ratio of older adults, and an increasingly diverse population. The possible transformative effects of these features make focus on young adults especially important. A systematic approach to understanding and responding to the unique circumstances and needs of today's young adults can help to pave the way to a more productive and equitable tomorrow for young adults in particular and our society at large. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults describes what is meant by the term young adulthood, who young adults are, what they are doing, and what they need. This study recommends actions that nonprofit programs and federal, state, and local agencies can take to help young adults make a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. According to this report, young adults should be considered as a separate group from adolescents and older adults. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults makes the case that increased efforts to improve high school and college graduate rates and education and workforce development systems that are more closely tied to high-demand economic sectors will help this age group achieve greater opportunity and success. The report also discusses the health status of young adults and makes recommendations to develop evidence-based practices for young adults for medical and behavioral health, including preventions. What happens during the young adult years has profound implications for the rest of the life course, and the stability and progress of society at large depends on how any cohort of young adults fares as a whole. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults will provide a roadmap to improving outcomes for this age group as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.
This book showcases the quality work that Latin American researchers have done on transition to school in Latin American countries by offering the English-speaking world, first-hand access to some Latin American transitions research, practices, and policies. This book shows the work carried out in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Cuba, and Mexico with regards to the way in which the transition to primary school is experienced from different stakeholders' perspectives, and how Latin American educational policies and cultural practices shape such an important process for stakeholders. This book was importantly framed by the COVID-19 pandemic which placed the world in a global health emergency, and it is our hope that this book will trigger future international collaborations between researchers, policy makers, and practitioners interested in transitions which could help produce a wealth of empirical evidence to inform educational policies and transitions practices across the world. Building networks where diverse experiences are valued and respected, as well as analysed, can help provide a platform that supports educators and researchers as they continue their work and branch out in new and challenging directions.
