‘Circling the drain’: The emotional ‘dirty’ work of legal aid workers
By: MacLachlan, Lara
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Material type: 
BookPublisher: Social and Legal Studies Description: 34(6), Dec, 2025: p.918-940.Subject(s): Legal aid, Emotion, Neoliberalism, Dirty work, Family law, Access to justice
In:
Social and Legal StudiesSummary: Emotions have traditionally been seen as out of place in law. They are viewed in opposition to many of law’s central values such as efficiency and rationality. Despite this, legal work often involves brushing up against the messy, complex and emotional realities of people’s lives. Those who do this work must occupy a liminal space between the law’s prescribed rationality and decorum and the emotional lives of their clients. Drawing on 27 interviews from people working with the Legal Aid Board in Ireland, this article considers what the social consequences of this might be for the workers. It explores how emotions in this context can be understood as emotional dirt, how legal aid workers are tainted due to their proximity to this dirt and how they engage in practices to deal with the consequences of this. The article highlights how understanding legal aid work as emotionally dirty provides important insights into the role of emotions and stigma in this type of work.- Reproduced
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09646639241292458
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Articles
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Indian Institute of Public Administration | 34(6), Dec, 2025: p.918-940 | Available | AR137698 |
Emotions have traditionally been seen as out of place in law. They are viewed in opposition to many of law’s central values such as efficiency and rationality. Despite this, legal work often involves brushing up against the messy, complex and emotional realities of people’s lives. Those who do this work must occupy a liminal space between the law’s prescribed rationality and decorum and the emotional lives of their clients. Drawing on 27 interviews from people working with the Legal Aid Board in Ireland, this article considers what the social consequences of this might be for the workers. It explores how emotions in this context can be understood as emotional dirt, how legal aid workers are tainted due to their proximity to this dirt and how they engage in practices to deal with the consequences of this. The article highlights how understanding legal aid work as emotionally dirty provides important insights into the role of emotions and stigma in this type of work.- Reproduced
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09646639241292458
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