Determined to be a Professional: Ethical and Well

Anneka Ferguson, Stephen Tang

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    Abstract

    Apart from the qualification, does an undergraduate law degree or Juris Doctor provide legal graduates with the ability to enter the profession as competent, well and ethical professional individuals that have the skills and attitudes to both survive and succeed in the legal profession, and provide the services that their clients and the community expects of them? Central to this question is the issue of the rise of mental distress in law graduates that has been extensively described in many papers in the US and in Australia over the last three decades. This chapter will focus on the potential for self-determination theory (SDT) (as developed by Ryan and Deci and explored in the legal context by Lawrence Krieger and Kennon Sheldon) to explain the problem of law student and lawyer well-being. Followed by an examination of an empirical study of several cohorts of Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice students at the ANU School of Legal Practice in 2012 and 2013 that indicate that we have been able to positively reverse the trends on well-being seen in other studies i.e. levels of mental distress stayed at lower levels and did not significantly change over the study. These encouraging results correlated with overall higher or stable levels of autonomy, relatedness and competence as well as an increased sense of professional identity, hope and, most significantly, progress towards values. Finally, the chapter will discuss the features of this distinctive curriculum that could be providing these positive results with a view to encouraging further research, adoption and evaluation of these features into our legal education.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationEducation for Well-Being in Law: Positive Professional Identities and Practice
    EditorsCaroline Strevens and Rachael Field
    Place of PublicationLondon
    PublisherRoutledge, Taylor & Francis Group
    Pages58-73
    Volume1
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

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