STRESS AND PUBLIC CRIMINAL DEFENSE: COMPARING MALE AND FEMALE DEFENDER EXPERIENCES AND COPING STRATEGIES

Little research has focused on stress and coping strategies among public defenders, and none compares the experiences of male and female defenders. As frontline workers, critical to the due process of law, understanding and eradicating stress is essential to their well-being and the fair treatment of defendants. Employing thematic analysis of public defenders’ responses to open-ended questions, this study found gendered differences in how male and female defenders described their work motivations, challenges, and strategies for dealing with stress. Both male and female public defenders confront the stresses of injustice and heavy workloads. Female defenders, however, are more likely to experience gender discrimination and disrespect and the added stress of family and parenting responsibilities. Emotion-focused and recovery coping strategies were adopted far more often by public defenders than problem-focused approaches, but male defenders expressed psychologically detaching from work far more often than female defenders. The differences in male-female defender experiences and coping strategies, directions for future research, and the need for nuanced and distinct solutions for public defender stress are discussed.