Law Students' Motivations, Expectations and Levels of Psychological Distress: Evidence of Connections

Legal education should develop in every law student an appreciation of practitioners’ ethical obligations and an understanding of the law’s social and political context. Realising these objectives – creating ‘critical awareness’ – depends on communicating two key propositions: that the law is an ins...

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Main Authors: Wendy Larcombe, Ian Malkin, Pip Nicholson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Bond University 2012-01-01
Series:Legal Education Review
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6256
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author Wendy Larcombe
Ian Malkin
Pip Nicholson
author_facet Wendy Larcombe
Ian Malkin
Pip Nicholson
author_sort Wendy Larcombe
collection DOAJ
description Legal education should develop in every law student an appreciation of practitioners’ ethical obligations and an understanding of the law’s social and political context. Realising these objectives – creating ‘critical awareness’ – depends on communicating two key propositions: that the law is an instrument of power in a highly legalised society; and that the law is normative and dynamic. Whether these propositions are elucidated or obscured is critically dependent on how legal doctrine is presented. This article will use extracts from course materials to show how the language used can limit students’ development of critical awareness. This article proposes an alternative approach to the presentation of legal doctrine that will promote students’ critical awareness. This approach makes explicit the relationship of the law and lawyers to power, and the social and political context in which law operates.
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series Legal Education Review
spelling doaj-art-41cc3d01e76f465382411e0c5b5f9d3e2025-08-20T02:37:16ZengBond UniversityLegal Education Review1033-28391839-37132012-01-0122110.53300/001c.6256Law Students' Motivations, Expectations and Levels of Psychological Distress: Evidence of ConnectionsWendy LarcombeIan MalkinPip NicholsonLegal education should develop in every law student an appreciation of practitioners’ ethical obligations and an understanding of the law’s social and political context. Realising these objectives – creating ‘critical awareness’ – depends on communicating two key propositions: that the law is an instrument of power in a highly legalised society; and that the law is normative and dynamic. Whether these propositions are elucidated or obscured is critically dependent on how legal doctrine is presented. This article will use extracts from course materials to show how the language used can limit students’ development of critical awareness. This article proposes an alternative approach to the presentation of legal doctrine that will promote students’ critical awareness. This approach makes explicit the relationship of the law and lawyers to power, and the social and political context in which law operates.https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6256
spellingShingle Wendy Larcombe
Ian Malkin
Pip Nicholson
Law Students' Motivations, Expectations and Levels of Psychological Distress: Evidence of Connections
Legal Education Review
title Law Students' Motivations, Expectations and Levels of Psychological Distress: Evidence of Connections
title_full Law Students' Motivations, Expectations and Levels of Psychological Distress: Evidence of Connections
title_fullStr Law Students' Motivations, Expectations and Levels of Psychological Distress: Evidence of Connections
title_full_unstemmed Law Students' Motivations, Expectations and Levels of Psychological Distress: Evidence of Connections
title_short Law Students' Motivations, Expectations and Levels of Psychological Distress: Evidence of Connections
title_sort law students motivations expectations and levels of psychological distress evidence of connections
url https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6256
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