Most of us who eat meat regularly would still rather not kill an animal with our own hands. So we have, for generations, delegated that work to others.
Jennifer Dillard, at Georgetown Law, authored a new paper looking at what that delegation costs the workers of industrial slaughterhouses. She argues that prolonged work on a kill floor exposes workers to the risk of psychological damage, including post-traumatic stress disorder, and that they should be compensated under O.S.H.A. for any ill effects they suffer.
Giving slaughterhouse workers therapy might also reduce another cost associated with the meat-processing industry: increased crime.
Writing for the American Sociological Association, Amy Fitzgerald finds a spill-over effect from the violent work of the slaughterhouse into the surrounding community. According to her research, U.S. counties that have slaughterhouses consistently have higher rates of violent crime than demographically similar counties that don’t.
(Hat tip: Upton Sinclair)
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Young Jennifer is ignoring the fact that her caveman ancestors survived, in part, due to their slaughtering skills.
The further we evolve away from the land, the dumber we get.
For me, it’s not a matter of “not wanting to get my hands dirty”, but a matter of trade and specialization. If I had to kill a cow to eat or sheer a sheep to clothe myself or weld my own car, I would never get anything done *but* that.
Even if demographics are controlled for, I would still be somewhat wary of declaring a causal relationship. Perhaps Fitzgerald’s study would carry more weight if it also looked at longitudinal crime data of areas before and after the introduction of a slaughterhouse?
David—
“Demographically similar” means that they have the similar socio-economic mix, including income levels. So it logically follows that income level, racial mix, education level, population density, etc. have all been normalized and are roughly the same across all the counties compared in the study. The only significant difference was whether or not they had a slaughter house.
It would be interesting to compare crime rates from slaughterhouse areas to crime rates surrounding landfills.
Demographically similar is a tough call, I would think that a slaughterhouse / landfill has the ability to draw in employees from areas further away that the direct neighborhood whereas a local shop, salon or gas station would not. Draw in more people who are willing to take a job like that to an area, maybe crime goes up.
Could it just be that those who are inclined to work in a slaughterhouse are also those who are predisposed to violent behavior?
Asking OSHA to get involved in mental issues is asking for Big Brother.
Don’t go down that path.
Not that it’ll ever happen. OSHA couldn’t even come up with a feasable ergonomics plan.
Only if you’re the hamburglar. (Insert Drum roll)
In all seriousness, I did think of how a doctor over time builds up an incredible tolerance to seeing blood and guts. Obviously this is not as glamorous a job, but why wouldn’t someone working at a slaughterhouse eventually build the same sort of tolerance to what most people would not have the stomach for?