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Purpose: Given the training and experience of lawyers, we assumed that a study of lawyers' willingness to disclose disability in the workplace would provide an example of the actions of a group knowledgeable about disability law. The current study accounts for the effect of visibility of disability, onset and type of disability, and whether the lawyer has made an accommodation request. We also investigate the role of other individual characteristics, such as sexual orientation, gender identity, race/ethnicity, age, and job-related characteristics, in willingness to disclose. Methods: We use data from the first phase of a longitudinal national survey of lawyers in the USA to estimate the odds of disclosing disability to co-workers, management, and clients using proportional odds models. Results: Lawyers with less visible disabilities, those with mental health disabilities, and those who work for smaller organizations have lower odds of disclosing to co-workers, management, and clients as compared to their counterparts. Attorneys who have requested accommodations are more willing to disclose as compared to those who have not, but only to co-workers and management. Women are less likely than men to disclose to management and clients. However, gender is not a significant determinant of disclosure to co-workers. Older attorneys are more likely to disclose to clients, whereas attorneys with children are less likely to disclose to co-workers. Lastly, lower perceived prejudice and the presence of co-workers with disabilities are associated with higher disclosure scores, but not for all groups. Conclusions: Individuals who acquired a disability at a relatively early point in life and those with more visible disabilities are more likely to disclose. However, such willingness is affected by the intersection of disability with other individual and firm-level characteristics. Implications for Cancer Survivors. The findings imply that those with less visible disabilities and with health conditions acquired later in life are less likely to disclose. The relevance of the findings is heightened by the altered work conditions and demands imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic for cancer survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Objectives: Two studies were conducted to determine whether mindfulness meditation could be an effective tool for improving well-being among legal professionals—a population plagued by high rates of depression, anxiety, and stress. Methods: Study 1. Legal professionals completed questionnaires before and after an 8-week mindfulness program. Study 2. Lawyers were randomly assigned to either an experimental or waitlist condition. Questionnaires were administered at the beginning of the study and after experimental participants had completed a 30-day intervention. Results: Study 1. Participants reported significant improvements in mood, resilience, trait mindfulness, stress, anxiety, and depression over time. Study 2. Post-intervention, experimental participants reported better mood, lower levels of stress, and higher levels of non-reactivity and observing than waitlist participants. Conclusions: Mindfulness and meditation may effectively improve well-being among legal professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite ample best practice recommendations for competency to proceed (CTP) evaluations, direct observation of defendant-attorney interactions is an unstudied methodological technique for assessing defendants' abilities to assist and consult with their attorneys. This mixed-methods study surveyed 57 forensic evaluators regarding their history and opinions of direct observation as a component of CTP evaluations. The majority (70.20%) of forensic evaluators had engaged in direct observation on at least one occasion, with some practicing this approach in up to 85% of their evaluations. A minority endorsed or expressed concerns regarding this practice (e.g., third-party effects, violations of attorney-client privilege). Results of this study provide a preliminary indication of how evaluators perceive the potential utility and hazards of direct observation. In response, we offer a framework for approaching direct observation and highlight the need for additional research examining the impact of this methodological technique for CTP evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Law professionals are an understudied population that is integral to society. Limited research indicates lawyers experience poor mental health, decreased wellbeing, and suicidality. This cross-sectional study recruited 654 law professionals and responses to a depression scale, the patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) were compared with the general working population. Lawyers were significantly more likely to report suicidal ideation "several days" and "more than half the days" as compared with the general working population, with odds ratios (OR) of 6.54 (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.16 to 10.29) and 5.50 (95% CI 2.23 to 13.53) respectively. Lawyers were more likely reported mild (OR = 3.89, 95% CI 3.04 to 4.96), moderate (OR = 5.29, 95% CI 3.61 to 7.76), moderately severe (OR = 9.71, 95% CI 5.50 to 17.14), and severe (OR = 18.34,95% CI 6.00 to 56.11) depressive symptoms. 17.5% of lawyers in this study were experiencing symptoms equivalent to a diagnosis of a major depressive disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous work on law student wellness and mental health strongly suggests that the seeds of professional unhappiness are sown in law school. Law students suffer from anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other mental health problems at alarmingly high rates. They also leave law school with different concerns, commitments, and cognitive patterns than when they entered, emerging less hopeful, less intrinsically motivated, and more concerned with prestige than they were at the outset. So what, exactly, happens to people in law school? Although a rich body of quantitative and survey-based research on law students documents these empirical trends, surprisingly little qualitative work has examined the social mechanisms and relational processes that underpin the development of negative mental health and wellness patterns. This Article draws on in-depth interviews with fiftythree law students from thirty-six law schools throughout the United States: one interview before the students started law school, then another interview in their first three to six weeks, for a total of 106 interviews with 1L students who entered law school in Fall 2020. Even at this early stage, we can already begin to identify the social and cognitive processes that set the stage for unhealthy professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generations of lawyers have been taught that thinking like a lawyer requires putting emotion aside. They are warned, for example, that anger will blind them to the facts as they really are. Yet cognitive science rejects the notion that emotion and reason are autonomous, warring spheres. Recently there has been increasing recognition of the harmful consequences of the narrow conception of "thinking like a lawyer" for lawyers' well-being, but these consequences are generally portrayed as a necessary trade-off between the well-being of lawyers and the preservation of analytical rigor. This Essay will argue that the harm the narrow conception of "thinking like a lawyer" poses to lawyers' well-being is not simply an ancillary issue or an unfortunate but necessary collateral consequence of engaging in rigorous, logical thinking. A conception of law that attempts to cordon off emotion is poorly suited to the complexities of legal practice and is inconsistent with modern knowledge about how legal, ethical, and moral reasoning--and indeed, legal change and reform--actually occur. This Essay will focus in particular on the emotion of anger and the consequences of attempting to banish it from the realm of legal reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to indicate what the current expectations of the South African Courts are, as viewed by lawyers and advocates with regard to neuropsychological evaluations in motor vehicle accident claims in South Africa. Purposive sampling of 26 experienced legal practitioners in the Gauteng and North West provinces was done. They were identified by means of a list available at the High Court indicating which practitioners work in the context of motor vehicle accident claims. These participants have at least 10 years' experience in matters arising from motor vehicle accident claims. Semistructured interviews were conducted which were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by means of thematic analysis. The results indicate that legal practitioners find neuropsychological reports to be too long, owing to unnecessary repetition. They expect more structure in the document and less jargon and fewer technical terms. According to the legal practitioners there is too much focus on the test results and too little elaboration on the behavioral implications of injuries. They also expect reports to clearly illustrate the link between collateral findings and the neuropsychological sequelae. To make the information more understandable the lawyers expect the forensic neuropsychologist to report the test descriptions and results together. Findings must be clear to provide a clear psychological prognosis (i.e., indicate the difference between pre- and postmorbid) to determine loss of earnings. In conclusion, it is recommended that neuropsychological practitioners receive more specialized training to satisfy the expectations of the courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on lawyers with dementia that have been growing concern as profession ages as public are aware of memory loss and cognitive decline. Topics discussed include American Bar Association (ABA) and stakeholders who have prepared reports and studies on conducted studies on aging bench and bar, retirement being postponed by lawyers and Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) which occurs on continuum.

The vast amount of control that state trial judges exercise over the dynamics of their courtrooms is well established. The length of trial days and jury deliberations, however, has received little scholarly attention. Longstanding research has conclusively established the disruptive effects of sleep deprivation on many of the mental facilities necessary for juries to competently fulfill their duties. By depriving juries of sleep, trial judges may be compromising the fair rights of criminal defendants for the sake of efficiency. This Note argues that trial judges must use their discretion to ensure juries are well rested, keeping jurors’ needs in mind. Further, state legislatures have a responsibility to properly fund state courts and to pass legislation that ensures overlong trial days do not impact verdicts handed down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers advice for lawyers on handling the stresses of the legal profession. Topics covered include the positive and negative effects of stress, the concept of psychological capital, and the four positive mental strengths that make up psychological capital, including self-efficacy, resilience, hope, and optimism.

The present qualitative study explores advocates' opinions of misinformation about human trafficking in the media and describes advocates' strategies to counter the misinformation presented by the media. Thus, 15 advocates who work against human trafficking in Chicago-based nonprofit organizations participated in semistructured interviews about their opinions and strategies. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The present study identifies specific misperceptions of human trafficking in the media, highlights advocates' opinions of this misinformation, and discusses advocates' strategies to counteract inaccurate media, adding support to the role of media advocacy. Advocates note how media images shape and perpetuate stereotypes of trafficking through glamorizing sex work and sensationalizing stories that are most often international depictions of trafficking. Advocates report media generally shares only a piece of the story, simplifying the stories of survivors and the issue of human trafficking. Advocates critique media perpetuating these misperceptions for how they may contribute to policies and programs which fail to address structural factors that create vulnerabilities to be trafficked and the multisystem needs of survivors. However, advocates also note misperceptions can be counteracted by producing sensitive, informed media through social platforms. Advocates share their strategies counteracting misinformation through engaging in informative conversations, utilizing social media to educate, and promoting media messages of survivor agency. Research, clinical, and policy implications are also discussed. The present study emphasizes the importance of decision makers and service providers being critical consumers of media and to assess how media portrayals may (or may not) inform their understanding and response to the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Just as with burnout in other social sectors, burnout among physicians is acquiring epidemic proportions. After describing the pathology, this article covers the multidisciplinary aspects of its clinical management. As for prevention, the article describes the importance of the socially motivated, professionally oriented management of health care services, courts, universities, and schools for preventing burnout and contrasts such features with the characteristics of their industrial and commercial management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Theology / Roczniki Teologiczne is the property of Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawla II and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Intrafamilial child sexual abuse is the commonest, though the under-reported, form of child sexual abuse in Marondera District and Zimbabwe generally. However, little is known about what drives it and what practitioners know about it. This study explored the factors associated with the incidence of intrafamilial child sexual abuse in Marondera based on perceptions of Victim-Friendly Court professionals in the district. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to twenty-five professionals from thirteen agencies implementing the Victim-Friendly Court initiative in Marondera. Relevant court records of intrafamilial child sexual abuse cases were also reviewed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, descriptive statistics and document analysis. The study revealed that intrafamilial child sexual abuse in Marondera is associated with very subtle structural factors which put children at risk of abuse, prevent children, families, and communities from reporting, and reduce the accessibility of formal systems of social control. There are 'conflicts' between normative/legal and traditional socio-cultural value systems such that there is no shared understanding of the fundamental issues driving this phenomenon. Policy/practice responses need to take cognizance of these peculiarities. As a basic first step, a comprehensive national prevalence study is required. Further in-depth research of the socio-cultural determinants of intrafamilial child sexual abuse is also recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the links between our roles as academics, advocates, and activists, focusing on our research on treatment decisions for patients in vegetative and minimally conscious states. We describe how our work evolved from personal experience through traditional social science research to public engagement activities and then to advocacy and activism. We reflect on the challenges we faced in navigating the relationship between our research, advocacy, and activism, and the implications of these challenges for our research ethics and methodology—giving practical examples of how we worked with research participants, wrote up case studies and developed interventions into legal debates. We also address the implications of the impact agenda—imposed by the British Research Excellence Framework— for our actions as scholar‐activists. Finally, we ask how practicing at the borders of academia, advocacy, and activism can inform research—helping to contextualize, sensitize, and engage theory with practice, leading to a more robust analysis of data and its implications, and helping to ensure a dialogue between research, theory, lived experience, front‐line practice, law, and public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To describe how stakeholders involved in intimate partner violence prevention and treatment at different levels of the Social Ecological Model view accountability in relationship to the key actors at various levels in the intervention process and their role in addressing future incidence of IPV. We conducted 36 in-depth qualitative interviews with BIP facilitators, IPV advocates, socio-judicial officials, and local and state policy makers. Participants were recruited via snowball sampling and interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded in ATLAS.ti. Interviews broadly explored the challenges and best practices in facilitating BIPs, as well as perceptions on the etiology of IPV. The current analysis focuses on participant views related to accountability, and the role that various groups and institutions have in addressing IPV perpetration. Interview participants emphasized a multi-systems level approach to addressing IPV, one that required the responsibility of both programs and judicial systems in establishing IPV as a serious crime, and stressed the need to ensure accountability across all relevant stakeholders engaged in the broader scope of IPV intervention. In order to have a sustainable impact on IPV perpetration, stakeholders across the Social Ecological Model will need to utilize crucial intervention periods using a standardized response to improve outcomes for IPV survivors, perpetrators, families and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Legal concerns have been implicated in the occurrence of variability in decisions of limitations of medical treatment (LOMT) before death. Objective: We aimed to assess differences in perceptions between physicians and prosecutors toward LOMT. Measurements: We sent a survey to intensivists, oncologists, and prosecutors from Brazil, from February 2018 to May 2018. Respondents rated the degree of agreement with withholding or withdrawal of therapies in four different vignettes portraying a patient with terminal lung cancer. We measured the difference in agreement between respondents. Results: There were 748 respondents, with 522 (69.8%) intensivists, 106 (14.2%) oncologists, and 120 (16%) prosecutors. Most respondents agreed with withhold of chemotherapy (95.2%), withhold of mechanical ventilation (MV) (90.2%), and withdrawal of MV (78.4%), but most (75%) disagreed with withdrawal of MV without surrogate's consent. Prosecutors were less likely than intensivists and oncologists to agree with withhold of chemotherapy (95.7% vs. 99.2% vs. 100%, respectively, p < 0.001) and withhold of MV (82.4% vs. 98.3% vs. 97.9%, respectively, p < 0.001), whereas intensivists were more likely to agree with withdrawal of MV than oncologists (87.1% vs. 76.1%, p = 0.002). Moreover, prosecutors were more likely to agree with withholding of active cancer treatment than with withholding of MV [difference (95% confidence interval, CI) = 13.2% (5.2 to 21.6), p = 0.001], whereas physicians were more likely to agree with withholding than with withdrawal of MV [difference (95% CI) = 10.9% (7.8 to 14), p < 0.001]. Conclusions: This study found differences and agreements in perceptions toward LOMT between prosecutors, intensivists, and oncologists, which may inform the discourse aimed at improving end-of-life decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are governance practices employed by professional service firms equally effective in preventing professional-client misconduct for professionals at different stages of their career? Drawing upon professional-agency theory and the literature documenting professional career patterns, we develop a multilevel theoretical model to answer this question. We test our model in the empirical context of the Dutch legal profession, using firm-level survey data on 142 law firms and individual-level archival data from the 2994 lawyers working for these firms to explain 97 formally adjudicated complaints of professional-client misconduct committed by individual lawyers registered with the Amsterdam Bar Association. We find that the 'orthodox' distinction between informal behavioral and formal outcome-based governance practices is too course-grained to receive empirical support, and that firm-level governance practices only reduce professional-client misconduct when they are specifically targeted at the career stage of the lawyers employed. Our findings not only allow us to develop a finer-grained version of Sharma's professional-agency model, but may also be practically useful in developing firm-level governance practices targeted at different strata of professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the high prevalence of behavioral health disorders in justice settings and prior research on the importance of attitudes in successful treatment outcomes for behavioral health populations, few studies have examined criminal justice professionals' attitudes toward mental illness and substance use. We conducted a state-wide survey of 610 criminal justice professionals using items adapted from the Drug and Drug Problems Perceptions Questionnaire (Albery et al. 2003) to examine attitudes toward mental illness and substance use as a function of criminal justice position and personal contact. For attitudes toward both mental illness and substance use, defense attorneys and community corrections officers reported more positive attitudes relative to jail correctional staff and prosecutors. For attitudes toward substance use, personal contact moderated the effect of position on attitudes. Findings underscore the importance of targeted training and other contact-based interventions to improve criminal justice professionals' attitudes toward behavioral health populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This work presents a Smart Learning system based on Knowledge Discovery and Cognitive Computing techniques aimed at citizens, legal students and experts alike, providing them with the possibility of submitting legal cases expressed in natural language and obtaining legal insight and advice in return. Advanced features implemented within the system include the automatic conceptualization and classification of textual legal cases via natural language processing, the generation of learning paths by relying upon legal ontologies, and additional features for managing legal knowledge bases, including editing, versioning, integration and enrichment. The system has been experimented on a diversified user-base and succeeded in obtaining a positive evaluation with respect to the aspects that were subject of the investigation, including effectiveness, efficiency and usability, thus paving the way to make the system a successful cognitive learning platform for future law professionals and knowledgeable citizens. Highlights • Experimentation of a smart learning system for law based on knowledge discovery. • The system includes advanced intelligent features based on cognitive computing. • The experimentation yielded positive results from a diversified user-base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Colorado Supreme Court's Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being formed in 2018 to improve well-being among Colorado law students, lawyers, and judges. This Article discusses the recent well-being movement within the American legal profession that inspired the creation of the Colorado Task Force. The Article reviews national studies of lawyer and law student well-being that reveal the urgency of the issue, and the Article explains the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being's compelling arguments for why lawyer well-being matters for economic, professionalism, and humanitarian reasons. It adds to that discussion the argument that well-being is critical to foster a legal profession that better reflects the diversity of our nation and that will better serve the needs of legal consumers. The Article also discusses how existing Colorado Supreme Court programs have prioritized the issue of lawyer well-being. The Article concludes with discussion of the creation of the Colorado Supreme Court Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, and details emerging priorities identified by this group at its initial launch meeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of lawyers examines the degree to which professionals in general and lawyers in particular are committed to their profession and the organizations that employ them. I examine how the different structural arrangements of professional and nonprofessional organizations relate to lawyers' organizational and professional commitment. Results show that organizational commitment is highly dependent on perceived opportunities for career advancements and the criteria used in the distribution of rewards. Few of the structural characteristics are important in explaining professional commitment, and lawyers working in nonprofessional organizations are significantly less committed to the legal profession than those working in professional organizations. The results of this study suggest that future research must look beyond the structural characteristics of professionals' work settings if we want to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the factors affecting professional commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses several articles in the issue on topics including psychology of women and gender; research practices of psychologists; and social harms of diagnostic inflation.

Copyright of Enfermagem Brasil is the property of Atlantica Editora and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Among the young generation, medical and law students' attitude towards third party reproduction is very important because they will be directly involved in restricting or developing the programs that will support it in the future. The aim of this survey was to investigate attitude of law and medical students to oocyte donation and key aspects of this kind of third party. Materials and Methods: In analytical cross-sectional study, 345 medical and law students were randomly selected using stratified sampling. Data was collected using attitude toward donation- oocyte (ATOD-O) questionnaire. Responses were on a 5-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed according to established statistical approach by Heeren and D'Agostino. Results: The majority of the participants agreed with oocyte donation being the last choice for infertility treatment. There was a significant difference between medical students and law students regarding the acceptance of oocyte donation (3.23 vs. 3.53, P=0.025). In addition, female participants were more tolerant on receiving donated oocytes from their sisters than male participants (3.01 vs. 2.58, P=0.002) and finally, a higher number of the participants had a positive attitude towards anonymity of the donor and the recipient to one another (3.93 vs. 3.86, P=0.580). The vast majority of female students believed that the oocyte recipient naturally likes that child (P<0.0001). Conclusion: In the current study, a great majority of law and medical students support oocyte donation as an alternative way of starting a family. There is an interest among female students in donating oocytes anonymously. The majority believed that the oocyte recipient family will like the donor oocyte child naturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study adds to the tradition of studying race talk in the context of a flash point in biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research examined constructions of the Mayor of New Plymouth (Andrew Judd) following his advocacy for extended Māori representation on the New Plymouth District Council. Data comprised reports, editorials, opinion pieces, and letters to the local newspaper immediately after Judd's appearance on a nationally broadcast current affairs television show when he announced the end of his mayoralty. The analysis considered constructions of Judd as both hero and anti‐hero, with complimentary constructions of the local community as racist, or not. In subscribing to the view for extended representation on the grounds of cultural constituency, Judd was variously positioned as culturally and politically naïve, as a hero for the cause for greater political representation for Māori, and an anti‐hero responsible for letting his own community down and bringing negative publicity to the town he was meant to serve. Judd was the target of abuse that prompted him to end his mayoralty, and this abuse stimulated constructions of widespread community racism. The discussion includes an interrogation of what it means to be a recovering racist, and finally, it is argued that the analysis provides further evidence of the sinuousness of racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study presents the findings of an evaluation of Arizona's 2013 revisions to the child custody statutes that directed courts to "maximize" the child's parenting time with both parents. A state-wide survey of the four family law professions (i.e., conciliation court staff, judges, mental health providers, and attorneys) assessed their perceptions of the law 4 years after implementation. We averaged the ratings across the four professions to obtain a comprehensive perspective that gave equal weight to each profession. Results revealed that the law functions as a rebuttable presumption of equal parenting time; that it is evaluated positively overall and in terms of children's best interests; that it is has a neutral impact on legal and interparental conflict; and that it has led to small increases in allegations of domestic violence, child abuse, and substance abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of all the advocacy services provided to partner violence and sexual assault victims, safety planning may be most central. However, unlike many community behavioral health or case management services, there is virtually no literature on standards of care in safety planning, ways to measure its effectiveness, or discussion of the challenges advocates face in their day-to-day practice of planning for victim safety. The purpose of this paper is to describe advocate perceptions of training and supervision, how they obtain feedback about their work with victims, and their personal challenges in safety planning with victims. Study results highlight the need for more guidance, training, and support as well as more coping strategies for the numerous personal challenges advocates face in their day-to-day safety planning work. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research evaluates the health effects of higher status attainment by analyzing highly similar individuals whose circumstances differ after some experience a "status boost." Advancing that research, we assess health differences across organizational contexts among two national samples of lawyers who were admitted to the bar in the same year in their respective countries. We find that higher-status lawyers in large firms report more depression than lower-status lawyers, poorer health in the American survey, and no health advantage in Canada. Adjusting for income exacerbates these patterns-were it not for their higher incomes, large-firm lawyers would have a greater health disadvantage. Last, we identify two stressors in the legal profession, overwork and work-life conflict, that are more prevalent in the private sector and increase with firm size. Adjusting for these stressors explains well-being differences across organizational contexts. This study documents the role of countervailing mechanisms in health inequality research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Of the Study: To examine the use of alcohol and other substances among medical and law students at a UK university.Study Design: Anonymous cross-sectional questionnaire survey of first, second and final year medical and law students at a single UK university.Results: 1242 of 1577 (78.8%) eligible students completed the questionnaire. Over half of first and second year medical students (first year 53.1%, second year 59.7%, final year 35.9%) had an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score suggestive of an alcohol use disorder (AUDIT≥8), compared with over two-thirds of first and second year law students (first year 67.2%, second year 69.5%, final year 47.3%). Approximately one-quarter of medical students (first year 26.4%, second year 28.4%, final year 23.7%) and over one-third of first and second year law students (first year 39.1%, second year 42.4%, final year 18.9%) reported other substance use within the past year. Over one-third of medical students (first year 34.4%, second year 35.6%, final year 46.3%) and approximately half or more of law students (first year 47.2%, second year 52.7%, final year 59.5%) had a Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety score suggestive of a possible anxiety disorder.Conclusions: Study participants had high levels of substance misuse and anxiety. Some students' fitness to practice may be impaired as a result of their substance misuse or symptoms of psychological distress. Further efforts are needed to reduce substance misuse and to improve the mental well-being of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article empirically analyzes original data to look at stress and stress hardiness in the legal profession. A number of studies address stress in the legal profession and its impact on the mental health of lawyers. Our study, however, is the first to examine stress hardiness in the legal profession. Drawing on quantitative data gathered from 2013-2016 in surveys of 530 law students and lawyers and qualitative data from 106 indepth interviews with lawyers, and building on the work of research psychologists Salvatore Maddi and Suzanne Kobasa, we look at the following questions: Are some lawyers more stress hardy than others? If so, what makes them stress hardy? Are their strategies teachable and learnable? Our data show the following: (1) some lawyers are more stress hardy than others, (2) although no demographic factors correlate to stress hardiness, three behaviors: maintaining a sense of control, a sense of purpose, and cognitive flexibility show a significant correlation to stress hardiness; (3)these behaviors build on each other such that use of one strengthens the use of others, (4) maintaining a sense ofpurpose, a sense of control and cognitive flexibility are teachable and learnable, (5) the type of stress lawyers experience varies by practice area, (6) the level of stress experienced by law students and lawyers remains fairly constant throughout law school and law practice, (7) law students and lawyers report using the following strategies to help manage stress: exercise, social connectedness and three habits of thought: planning and organization, perspective, and gratitude, (8) lawyers report less reliance on exercise and social connectedness as they age and greater reliance on substance use, (9) reliance on drugs and alcohol to manage stress correlates to greater stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online surveys were used to sample the views of judges, barristers and solicitors (n = 33) about their engagement with autistic individuals in criminal courts in England and Wales. Despite an understanding of some of the difficulties experienced by individuals with autism, and the adjustments suitable for supporting them, legal professionals reported constraints arising from a lack of understanding by others within the criminal justice system. These results are considered alongside the views and perspectives of autistic adults (n = 9) and parents of children on the autism spectrum (n = 19), who had encountered the criminal courts as witnesses or defendants and were largely dissatisfied with their experiences. Training, understanding and the provision of appropriate adjustments were identified as key issues by all respondent groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]