Date of Conferral

4-27-2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Ernesto Escobedo

Abstract

No prior studies have compared occupational stressors of criminal defense lawyers by practice setting (public defender, court-appointed, or retained). In this mixed-method study, the goal was to identify occupational stressors perceived by criminal defense lawyers in different settings and to determine if those stressors were correlated with depression, anxiety, and burnout, using Maslach’s burnout-engagement continuum as the theoretical framework. Based on stressors identified in semistructured interviews with 15 criminal defense lawyers, the Criminal Defender Stress Survey (CDSS) was created to measure the frequency and perceived intensity of identified stressors. The CDSS was incorporated into an online survey, along with the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scales (short form) and four scales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. All Virginia criminal defense attorneys (N = 1309) were invited by email to complete the survey, and 68 attorneys (5.2%) responded. Factor analysis identified 15 stress factors with good internal reliability. Public defenders had statistically significantly higher frequency and intensity scores than court-appointed lawyers for disparate treatment of marginalized groups, effects of indigency, and official misconduct, plus higher intensity on procedural injustice. Regression of all frequency and intensity factors onto each outcome variable yielded statistically significant models predicting part of the variance in depression, anxiety, and the dimensions of burnout. Addressing these stressors can lead to positive social change by improving mental health of lawyers, increasing lawyer retention in underserved areas, reducing disciplinary complaints, improving client representation, and improving public perception of the criminal justice system.

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