A new study has found that when compared to farmers, meatworkers had a significantly higher propensity for violence, with those in meat processing tending to display more negative attitudes towards animals.
The research was conducted by Flinders University's animal studies expert, Dr Nick Taylor, and involved research from Central Queensland University.
It examined the link between attitudes towards animals and propensity for human-directed aggression among farmers and meatworkers, and of the 67 participants, meatworkers were significantly more inclined to commit acts of violence.
Farmers were found to have significantly lower levels of aggression tendancies than the general community while slaughterhouse workers scored higher than the community benchmark.
Other variables including income, education and pet ownership had no significant effect on the two groups’ propensity for violence or attitudes towards animals, however 76 percent of farmers reported having a pet compared with only 54 percent of meatworkers.
Taylor said another noteworthy finding was that women, regardless of employment as farmers or meatworkers, scored six percent lower than men in their attitudes towards animal welfare.
"It was assumed women would be more pro-animal but this wasn’t the case," Taylor said.
"Equally unexpected, female meatworkers were found to have higher propensities for aggression, particularly verbal and physical aggression, than male meatworkers and all the farmers.
"Most of the current literature on the impact of meatwork employment focuses solely on the male experience but our findings show women are just as vulnerable to the physical and emotional effects of the job so this is an area in desperate need of further investigation," said Taylor.
Adding weight to the study's findings, one of Australia's most heinous murders involved a woman, Katherine Knight, an ex-abattoir workers from Aberdeen, killing her de facto partner before skinning and beheading him, and cooking his body parts.
Unsurprisingly, the study also found that meatworkers had a more "utilitarian" attitude towards animal welfare, and viewed them as commodities.
Taylor added that propensity for aggression scores among meatworkers were similar to some reported by incarcerated populations, suggesting the constant exposure to violence within meat processing plants could cause psychological damage.
"Further research with this population is urgently needed to ascertain the potential damaging psychological effects of being employed in the industry, not only for the individual and the community they live in but for the animals they come into contact with," she said.