Wellbeing impact

Examining the wellbeing impacts of working in the criminal courts is one of the Centre's areas of ongoing innovation.

Criminal lawyers' experiences of working with potentially traumatic material and emotion—the C-Level project

Criminal lawyers (CL’s) are regularly exposed to the traumatic material of others—exposure to graphic evidence, distressing testimony, the significance of judicial decisions, and the expectation of emotional detachment all contribute to the unique experience of the criminal law profession.

However, little research has examined whether this exposure impacts a criminal lawyer’s emotional and psychological wellbeing and, if so, how. Through in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis, this research will break new ground and develop the first data-driven account of the psychological and emotional impacts (both positive and negative) of working in criminal law, including the role of the unique work environment (e.g., criminal courts), and the position of different groups of criminal lawyers within this.

The aim is to provide evidence-based recommendations for how to better support criminal lawyers and those entering the profession (such as law students).

This project is a collaboration between academics in psychology and law. It's supported by Victoria University of Wellington Faculty Strategic Research Grants from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Law.

The research is covered in this Conversation article.

Two women standing in front of a Faculty of Law sign
Dr Nichola Tyler is a senior lecturer in Forensic Psychology at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology and Professor Yvette Tinsley is the Academic Director for Te Herenga Waka Centre for Justice Innovation and a criminal Law lecturer.

'Scar tissue that I wish you saw—understanding and addressing the wellbeing impacts of working in criminal law' was a powerful public lecture delivered by Dr Nichola Tyler and Professor Yvette Tinsley.

Read about the event or view the recording: