Submitted by the Next Gen Research Summer Interns

Literature Review

In examining the topic of graduate law students in the Loop of Chicago, it is important to look at scholarship that details law students in general as well as the religiosity of college students broadly and more specifically. In addition, it is important for Christian missiologists who desire to know the issues involving these students’ barriers to a relationship with God to also learn from scholars who have already researched how college students’ religiosity affects their personal outlook and identity. In our survey of this scholarly literature we identified six common themes: the impact of lawyers in the world today, the reasons students choose a graduate program in law school, the unique personality traits of law students, the emotional well-being of law students, the religiosity and spirituality of college students, and the researched effects of introspection on identity, morals, and values.

The Impact of Lawyers on the World Today

Many authors believe that areas concerning lawyers’ influence through their job seem to be an important source of power to initialize an impact for good. For example, author Brennan suggests, “Take these three years to learn how to do law well; even more, learn that the point of doing law well is to do good; still more, learn that doing good through law is about using power to achieve love’s ends” (2002, p.19). Brennan also believed that instead of talking about where law can rule good and evil or for life or for death, the place law has in love or vice versa should be talked about (2002, p.20). On a more practical note, author Lindholm seems to focus on the belief that lawyers will “influence the nature and quality of society for many years to come” (2006, p.510). Brennan concludes that law that does good is looked at as very beneficial even to a diverse population (2002, p.21).

The Reasons Students Choose a Graduate Program in Law School

We have found studies that show that many students have a variable amount of reasons for choosing such law schools and some have no idea whatsoever. Schleef mentions that, “Students’ accounts of their decisions to attend elite professional schools, although typically couched as preferences, actually reflect deep-class related constraints” (2000, p.155). Schleef also believes they chose their degree for reasons such as “professional status, intellectual interest, and an upper-middle class lifestyle” (2000, p.155). This study also found that some students choose law school as a way to discover if they really want to have a career in law (Schleef, 2000, p.158). Some students studied by Lindholm do have an idea and clear understanding for why they went to law school and mention there reason to be “an interest in issues of justice, as well as a desire for intellectual growth” (2006, p.514). Lindholm has also found that most students that had a desire for money and position lost sight of the intellectual gain from the law school experience. For example, “those who choose legal careers primarily for purposes of material gain and prestige tend also to be least motivated by intellectual aspects of the work” (Lindholm, 2006, p.515). This study also found motivations for one’s job seemed to differ with gender. Lindholm writes, “Women legal career aspirants are generally less materialistic or prestige oriented, favoring instead a commitment to public service” (2006, p.515).

The Unique Personality Traits of Law Students

When researchers have studied and compared law and pre-law students to other graduate tracks, certain traits and characteristics have been highlighted to be unique to law students. Some of these characteristics are also unique within the category of law students in that there are notable differences between gender and minorities. Lindholm noted a study that found that female law students had a stronger ethic of care than male students (2006, p.515). Male law students were found to lean towards rights and focus on “objectivity, principles, personal beliefs, and freedom of expression” (Lindholm, 2006, p.515). Overall, scholarly literature supports the claim that students enter law school with “altruistic aspirations” (Lindholm, 2006, p.516). Another study reported that pre-law students were generally resistive to subordinate roles and desired leadership roles (Lindholm, 2006, p.516). Law students were also found to be “more extrinsically motivated” (Lindholm, 2006, p.516).

The emotional well-being of law students

We found in a study that there are four major emotional complications among law students that cause abnormal predicaments. The four complications are alienation, dissatisfaction, anxiety, and depression.

Alienation

Author Carrington states, “The essential attitude of the alienated student is disinterest or disengagement” (1977, p.890). He also mentions that the student that feels alienated does not value his association with fellow law students and doubts that they even enjoy their company (Carrington, 1977, p.891). The study indicated that sex, age, ancestry, political science, family type, and family income had no correlation as a cause of alienation (Carrington, 2007, p.891). Carrington writes, “Focusing on the immediate consequences of alienation, we can say with greater confidence that the presence of much alienation in law students does detract from the quality of life at the law school” (1977, p.892). In an updated article, Carrington implies that students who were highly alienated did not feel accepted or active in a caring association (1978, p.1036). Studies presented two aspects of alienated students as impatience with academic presentations of law and a negative outlook on fellow peers at law school. Carrington describes the first aspect as, “highly alienated students in our surveys expressed impatience with academic presentations of the law that did not clearly relate to their own vocational needs” (1978, p.1040). Carrington says, “Alienated students see their peers as markedly more negative and cynical than is actually the case. The alienated believed that their peers would lie to secure financial aid or would alter their transcripts to get a better job” (1978, p.1040).

Dissatisfaction

Studies insinuated that students that feel dissatisfied often feel the pressure to be successful law students as a hindrance and eventually rebel and resist the responsibility. Carrington implies, “At base, dissatisfied students seem to be resisting the pressure that they feel is placed on them to measure up to some abstract standard of performance in law school” (?). We also found a significant tendency for dissatisfaction to fade over time, and by doing so the third-year students appear to be distinctly less dissatisfied than first-year students (Carrington, 1977, p.894). Also a huge encounter in this reading was that Carrington mentioned, “ It appears that dissatisfied students are more likely to consume larger amounts of mind-altering substances” (1977, p.895).

Anxiety

We found that studies signified anxiety among female law students to be higher than among male law students (1978, p.60). To summarize how anxiety is correlated with law students Carrington says, “While law students appear to have somewhat elevated anxiety prior to law school, levels are even higher among samples of law students in school. Across studies and measurement instruments, law students almost always reported higher levels of anxiety than comparison groups, including medical students” (1978, p.63).

Depression

Carrington’s study shows that there is no difference in depression among female and male law students, but instead third-year law students reported more depression than first-year law students (1978, p.65). Carrington concludes depression data among law students as a replication to the anxiety data that was gathered. He stated that the results suggest that self-reports of depression by the law students tend to be higher than the comparison groups and even medical students (1978, p.67).

The Religiosity and Spirituality of College Students

Multiple works were found that described the degree of religiosity and spirituality of graduate and undergraduate students. One study was carried out by Hunsberger in the late 1970’s to determine if the frequently reported liberalization trend in college was true (1978, p.159). The only finding that the study could statistically support was that seniors attended church less frequently than freshmen (Hunsberger, 1978, p.163). A more recent paper headed up by Lindholm addressed the notion that religiosity’s declination during the undergraduate years has been well documented empirically (2006, p.513). However, spiritual growth has been found by some to increase for traditionally aged college students (Lindholm, 2006, p.513). In a study specifically done on graduate students, it was believed that church attendance during graduate years would follow a u-curve (Greeley, p.36). In a paper written and led by Cook, the perceived differences in the definitions of religiosity and spirituality were studied. The researchers believed that it is also important to understand what college students mean when speaking of these two terms (Cook, 2000, p.136).

The Researched Effects of Introspection on Identity, Morals, and Values

Many authors have supported the study of religious beliefs and how they affect a student. Others have concentrated more on how looking introspectively and contemplating existence would affect a student. One study by Greeley examined the effects of students’ religiosity on their academics (1965, p.35). The study did not find evidence to support a conflict between the students’ beliefs in science and religion (Greeley, 1965, p 36). They also did not find evidence of emotional strain on students that proclaimed religious beliefs (Greeley, 1965, p.38). Lindholm noted a study in the paper that supported the idea that “the intensity with which individuals pursue answers to existential questions could be directly linked to overall mental and emotional health” (2006, p.512). They defined this existential pursuit as a spiritual quest in searching for acceptance or rejection of religion (Lindholm, 2006, p.512). It is also stated that how serious these students view spiritual quest affects positive identity development as well (Lindholm, 2006, p.513). In addition, research has shown that:

Developing people’s abilities to access, nurture, and give expression to the spiritual dimension of their lives impacts how they engage with the world and fosters within them a more meaningful sense of connectedness that promotes altruism, social justice, and individual passion. (Lindholm, 2006, p.513).

References

Brennan, P. M. (2002). To Beginning Law Students. First Things : a Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life. (128), 19-20.

Carrington, Paul D., & Conley, James J. (1977). The Alienation of Law Students. Michigan Law Review. 75(5/6), 881-889.

Carrington, Paul D., & Conley, James J. (1978). Negative Attitudes of Law Students: A Replication of the Alienation and Dissatisfaction Factors. Michigan Law Review. 76(6), 1036-1043.

Cook, Stephen W., Borman, Patricia D., Moore, Martha A., & Kunkel, Mark A. (2000). College Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual People and Religious People. Journal of Psychology & Theology. 28(2), 125-137.

Greeley, Andrew M. (1965). Religious Behavior of Graduate Students. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 5, 34-40.

Hunsberger, Bruce. (1978). Religiosity of College Students: Stability and Change Over Years at University. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 17(2), 159-164.

Lindholm, J.A., Goldberg, R., & Calderone, S. (2006). The Spiritual Questing of Professional Career Aspirants. Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 4(2), 509-560.

Schleef, D. (2000). "That's a Good Question!" Exploring Motivations for Law and Business School Choice. Sociology of Education. 73(3), 155-74.