American Journal of Industrial Medicine
Volume 59, Issue 10, 2016, Pages 877-886

Good job, bad job: Occupational perceptions among Latino poultry workers (Article)

Mora D.C. , Arcury T.A. , Quandt S.A.*
  • a Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
  • b Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States, Center for Worker Health, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
  • c Center for Worker Health, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States, Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States

Abstract

Objectives: Immigrant workers frequently take jobs that are physically demanding, provide low wages, and result in injuries (e.g., poultry production and processing). Through a qualitative approach, this paper elicits poultry workers’ evaluations of their jobs and set them in the larger context of their lives. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 poultry workers in western North Carolina. Workers were asked to discuss job characteristics, physical and psychological impacts of their employment, and perceived health risks. Results: Immigrant workers valued the stability, benefits, upward mobility, and pay offered. They disliked the physical demands, the potential perceived effects of the job on their health, and the interactions with bosses and peers. Conclusions: Workers’ willingness to endure dirty, dangerous, and demanding (3-D) conditions of poultry must be understood in the context of other employment options, structural violence, and their focus on immediate family needs that positive aspects of these jobs can fulfill. Am. J. Ind. Med. 59:877–886, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Author Keywords

Structural violence occupational health 3-D jobs job perceptions poultry workers

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84987786830&doi=10.1002%2fajim.22599&partnerID=40&md5=b2bbfd9c3a19df8f4fc60bf14ce08e85
DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22599
ISSN: 02713586
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English