More than 100 years after Upton Sinclair denounced the massive slaughterhouse complex in Chicago as a “jungle,” qualitative case study research has documented numerous negative effects of slaughterhouses on workers and communities. Of the social problems observed in these communities, the increases in crime have been particularly dramatic. These increases have been theorized as being linked to the demographic characteristics of the workers, social disorganization in the communities, and increased unemployment rates. But these explanations have not been empirically tested, and no research has addressed the possibility of a link between the increased crime rates and the violent work that takes place in the meatpacking industry. This study uses panel analysis of 1994-2002 data on nonmetropolitan counties in states with “rightto-work” laws (a total of 581 counties) to analyze the effect of slaughterhouses on the surrounding communities using both ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression. The findings indicate that slaughterhouse employment increases total arrest rates, arrests for violent crimes, arrests for rape, and arrests for other sex offenses in comparison with other industries. This suggests the existence of a “Sinclair effect” unique to the violent workplace of the slaughterhouse, a factor that has not previously been examined in the sociology of violence.
Adams, C. (1991). The sexual politics of meat: A feminist-vegetarian critical theory. New York: Continuum .
2.
Adams, C.J. (2000). A feeling for the language: Comments on Dunayer's "In the Name of Science."Organization and Environment, 13, 453-459.
3.
Allen, L.C. (2000). The influence of military training and combat experience on domestic violence. In P. Mercier & J. Mercier (Eds.), Battle cries on the homefront: Violence in the military family (pp. 81-103). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
4.
Arluke, A., & Sanders, C.R. (1996). Regarding animals. Philadelphia : Temple University Press.
5.
Bacon, D. (1999). Ethnic cleansing hits immigrant workers, organizers, in Midwest meatpacking: INS declares war on labor. The Nation , 268, 18-23.
6.
Balcombe, J. (2000). Verbal vivisection: Comments on Dunayer's "In the Name of Science."Organization and Environment, 13, 460-462.
7.
Baron, L., & Straus, M.A. (1987). Four theories of rape: A macrosociological analysis . Social Problems, 34, 467-489.
8.
Baron, L., & Straus, M.A. (1988). Cultural and economic sources of homicide in the United States. Sociological Quarterly, 29, 371-390.
9.
Baron, L., Straus, M.A., & Jaffe, D. (1988). Legitimate violence, violent attitudes, and rape: A test of the cultural spillover theory. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 528, 79-110.
10.
Beirne, P. (1999). For a nonspeciesist criminology: Animal abuse as an object of study. Criminology, 37, 117-147.
11.
Beirne, P. (2002). Criminology and animal studies: A sociological view. Society and Animals, 10, 382-386.
12.
Beirne, P. (2004). From animal abuse to interhuman violence? A critical review of the progression thesis. Society and Animals, 12, 39-65.
13.
Beirne, P. (2007). Animal rights, animal abuse, and green criminology . In P. Beirne & N. South (Eds.), Issues in green criminology: Confronting harms against environments, humanity, and other animals (pp. 55-83). Portland, OR: Willan.
14.
Beirne, P., & South, N. (2007). Approaching green criminology. In P. Beirne & N. South (Eds.), Issues in green criminology: Confronting harms against environments, humanity, and other animals (pp. xiii-xxii). Portland, OR: Willan.
15.
Berry, E.H., Krannich, R.S., & Greider, T. (1990). A longitudinal analysis of neighboring in rapidly changing rural places. Journal of Rural Studies, 6, 175-186.
16.
Black, R. (1982). Stress and the correctional officer. Police Stress, 5, 10-16.
17.
Broadway, M. (2007). Meatpacking and the transformation of rural communities: A comparison of Brooks, Alberta and Garden City, Kansas. Rural Sociology, 72, 560-582.
18.
Broadway, M., & Stull, D.D. (2006). Meat processing and Garden City, KS: Boom and bust. Journal of Rural Studies, 22, 55-66.
19.
Broadway, M.J. (1990). Meatpacking and its social and economic consequences for Garden City, Kansas in the 1980s. Urban Anthropology, 19, 321-344.
20.
Broadway, M.J. (1994). What happens when the meatpackers come to town ? Small Town, 24, 24-28.
21.
Broadway, M.J. (2000). Planning for change in small towns or trying to avoid the slaughterhouse blues. Journal of Rural Studies, 16, 37-46.
22.
Broadway, M.J. (2001). Bad to the bone: The social costs of beef-packing's move to rural Alberta. In R. Epp & D. Whitson (Eds.), Writing off the rural West: Globalization, governments, and the transformation of rural communities (pp. 39-51). Edmonton, Canada: University of Alberta Press.
23.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. (2004a). Table SNR01: Highest incidence rates of total nonfatal occupational injury and illness cases, private industry, 2003 (Vol. 2005). Washington, DC: Author.
24.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. (2004b). Table SNR06: Highest incidence rates of total nonfatal occupational injury cases, private industry, 2003 (Vol. 2005). Washington, DC: Author.
25.
Camasso, M.J., & Wilkinson, K.P. (1990). Severe child maltreatment in ecological perspective: The case of the western energy boom. Journal of Social Service Research, 13, 1-18.
26.
Cantor, D., & Land, K.C. (1985). Unemployment and crime rates in post-World War II United States: A theoretical and empirical analysis. American Sociological Review, 50, 317-332.
27.
Cazaux, G. (1999). Beauty and the beast: Animal abuse from a nonspeciesist criminological perspective. Crime, Law and Social Change, 31, 105-126.
28.
Cochran, J.K., & Chamlin, M. (2000). Deterence and brutalization: The dual effects of executions. Justice Quarterly, 17, 685-706.
29.
Cochran, J.K., Chamlin, M., & Seth, M. (1994). Deterence or brutalization? An impact assessment of Oklahoma's return to capital punishment. Criminology, 32, 107-134.
30.
Cortes, K. (2005). Do immigrants benefit from an increase in the minimum wage rate? An analysis by immigrant industry concentration (Vol. 2005) . Berkeley: University of California Press.
31.
Dalla, R.L., Ellis, A., & Cramer, S.C. (2005). Immigration and rural America: Latinos' perceptions of work and residence in three meatpacking communities. Community, Work & Family, 8, 163-185.
32.
Dunayer, J. (2000). In the name of science: The language of vivisection . Organization and Environment, 13, 432-452.
33.
Eisnitz, G. (1997). Slaughterhouse: The shocking story of greed, neglect, and inhumane treatment inside the U.S. meat industry. New York: Prometheus.
34.
Fink, D. (1998). Cutting into the meatpacking line: Workers and change in the rural Midwest. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
35.
Fitzgerald, A. (2005). Animal abuse and family violence: Researching the interrelationships of abusive power. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.
36.
Fitzgerald, A. (2007). "They gave me a reason to live": The protective effects of companion animals on the suicidality of abused women. Humanity and Society, 31, 355-378.
37.
Flynn, C. (2000a). Battered women and their animal companions: Symbolic interaction between human and non-human animals. Society and Animals, 8, 99-127.
38.
Flynn, C. (2000b). Woman's best friend: Pet abuse and the role of companion animals in the lives of battered women. Violence Against Women, 6, 162-177.
39.
Fox, M.A. (2000). The case against animal experimentation: Comments on Dunayer's "In the Name of Science." Organization and Environment, 13, 463-467.
40.
Freudenberg, W.R. (1981). Women and men in an energy boomtown: Adjustment, alienation and adaptation. Rural Sociology, 46, 220-244.
41.
Freudenberg, W.R. (1984). Boomtown's youth: Differential impacts of rapid community growth upon adolescents and adults. American Sociological Review, 49, 697-705.
42.
Freudenberg, W.R. (1986). The density of acquaintanceship: An overlooked variable in community research? American Journal of Sociology , 92, 27-63.
43.
Freudenberg, W.R., & Jones, R.E. (1991). Criminal behavior and rapid community growth: Examining the evidence. Rural Sociology, 56, 619-645.
44.
Gaines, J., & Jermier, J.M. (2000). Animal inequality and organizations: Introduction . Organization and Environment, 13, 426-428.
Grandin, T. (1988). Commentary: Behavior of slaughter plant and auction employees toward the animals. Anthrozoos, 1, 205-213.
47.
Grey, M. (1995). Pork, poultry and newcomers in Storm Lake, Iowa . In D. D. Stull & M. J. Broadway (Eds.), Any way you cut it: Meat processing and small-town America (pp. 109-127). Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
48.
Grey, M.A. (1998a). Handbook for creating sustainable multiethnic food-producing communities. Ames: Iowa State University Extension.
49.
Grey, M.A. (1998b). Meatpacking in Storm Lake, Iowa: A community in transition. In K. M. Thu & E. P. Durrenberger (Eds.), Pigs, profits, and rural communities (pp. 57-72). Albany: State University of New York Press.
50.
Halaby, C.N. (2004). Panel models in sociological research: Theory into practice. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 507-544.
51.
Horowitz, R., & Miller, M.J. (1999). Immigrants in the Delmarva poultry processing industry: The changing face of Georgetown, Delaware, and Environs. East Lansing: Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University.
52.
Hunter, L.M., Krannich, R.S., & Smith, M.D. (2002). Rural migration, rapid growth, and fear of crime . Rural Sociology, 67, 71-89.
53.
Irvine, L. (2004). If you tame me: Understanding our connection with animals. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
54.
Jerolmack, C. (2007). Animal practices, ethnicity, and community: The Turkish pigeon handlers of Berlin. American Sociological Review , 72, 874-894.
55.
Jerolmack, C. (2008). How pigeons became rats: The cultural-spatial logic of problem animals. Social Problems, 55, 72-94.
56.
Kalof, L. (2007). Looking at animals in human history. London: Reaktion Books.
57.
Kauffman, K. (1988). Prison officers and their world. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
58.
Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P., & Wilkinson, R.G. (1999). Crime: Social disorganization and relative depravation. Social Science and Medicine, 48, 719-731.
59.
King, D. (1978). The brutalization effect: Execution publicity and the incidence of homicide in South Carolina. Social Forces , 57, 683-687.
60.
Krannich, R.S., Berry, E.H., & Greider, T. (1989). Fear of crime in rapidly changing rural communities: A longitudinal analysis. Rural Sociology, 54, 195-212.
61.
Krivo, L.J., & Peterson, R.D. (2004). Labor market conditions and violence crime among youths and adults. Sociological Perspectives , 47, 485-505.
62.
Lee, M.R., & Ousey, G.C. (2001). Size matters: Examining the link between small manufacturing, socioeconomic deprivation, and crime rates in nonmetropolitan communities. Sociological Quarterly, 42, 581-602.
63.
Lee, M.T., Martinez, R., & Rosenfield, R. (2001). Does immigration increase homicide? Negative evidence from three border cities. Sociological Quarterly, 42, 559-580.
64.
Long, J.S., & Freese, J. (2006). Regression models for categorical dependent variables using Stata. College Station, TX: Stata Press.
65.
Long, S.J. (1997). Regression models for categorical and limited dependent variables. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
66.
Lynch, M. (1990). The greening of criminology. Critical Criminologist, 2, 1-5.
67.
Markus, E. (2005). Meat market: Animals, ethics, and money. Boston: Brio Press.
68.
Marshall, A.D., Panuzio, J., & Taft, C.T. (2005). Intimate partner violence among military veterans and active duty servicemen. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 862-876.
69.
Marshall, D., & McShane, M. (2000). First to fight: Domestic violence and the subculture of the Marine Corps. In P. Mercier & J. Mercier (Eds.), Battle cries on the homefront: Violence in the military family (pp. 15-29). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
70.
Martin, P., Taylor, J.E., & Fix, M. (1996). Immigration and the changing face of rural America: Focus on the Midwestern states (Occasional Paper No. 21). East Lansing, MI: Julian Samora Research Institute .
71.
Mercier, P.J. (2000). Violence in the military family. In P. Mercier & J. Mercier (Eds.), Battle cries on the homefront: Violence in the military family (pp. 3-11). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
72.
Miles-Doan, R. (1998). Violence between spouses and intimates: Does neighborhood context matter? Social Forces, 77, 623-645.
73.
Nibert, D. (2002). Animal rights/human rights: Entanglements of oppression and liberation. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
74.
Osgood, D.W. (2000). Poisson-based regression analysis of aggregate crime rates. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 16, 21-43.
75.
Patterson, C. (2002). Eternal Treblinka: Our treatment of animals and the Holocaust. New York: Lantern Books.
76.
Pridemore, W.A. (2005). A cautionary note on using county-level crime and homicide data. Homicide Studies, 9, 256-268.
77.
Rémy, C. (2003). Une mise à mort industrielle "humaine"? L'abattoir ou l'impossible objectivation des animaux. Politix, 16, 51-73.
78.
Rosen, L.N., Kaminski, R.J., Parmley, A.M., Knudson, K.H., & Fancher, P. (2003). The effects of peer group climate on intimate partner violence among married male U.S. army soldiers. Violence Against Women, 9, 1045-1071.
79.
Sampson, R. (1987). Urban black violence: The effect of male joblessness and family disruption. American Journal of Sociology, 93, 348-382.
80.
Sampson, R., & Groves, W.B. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 774-802.
81.
Schlosser, E. (2005). Fast food nation: The dark side of the all-American meal. New York: Houghton Mifflin . (Original work published 2001)
82.
Sinclair, U. (1946). The Jungle. New York: Viking Press. (Original work published 1905 )
83.
Smith, M. (2002). The "ethical" space of the abattoir: On the (in)human(e) slaughter of other animals. Human Ecology Review, 9, 49-58.
84.
Smith, M.D., Krannich, R.S., & Hunter, L.M. (2001). Growth, decline, stability, and disruption: A longitudinal analysis of social well-being in four western rural communities . Rural Sociology, 66, 425-450.
85.
South, N., & Beirne, P. (2006). Introduction. In N. South & P. Beirne (Eds.), Green criminology (pp. xiiv-xxvii). Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
86.
Spiegel, M. (1996). The dreaded comparison: Race and animal slavery . Philadelphia: New Society.
87.
Stack, S.J., & Tsoudis, O. (1997). Suicide risk among correctional officers: A logistic regression analysis. Archives of Suicide Research, 3, 183-186.
88.
Stull, D., & Broadway, M. (2004). Slaughterhouse blues: The meat and poultry industry in North America. Toronto, Ontario , Canada: Wadsworth.
89.
Sykes, G.M. (1980). The defects of total power. In B. M. Crouch (Ed.), The keepers: Prison guards and contemporary corrections (pp. 225-246). Springfield, IL: Thomas Books.
90.
U.S. Census Bureau, EPCD. (2006). County business patterns (Vol. 2006). Washington, DC: Author.
91.
U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2004). Uniform crime reporting handbook . Washington, DC: Author.
92.
Wilkinson, K.P., Reynolds, R., Thompson, J.G., & Ostresh, L.M. (1984). Violent crime in the western energy development region. Sociological Perspectives, 27, 241-256.
93.
Wilkinson, K.P., Thompson, L.M., Reynolds, R., & Ostresh, L.M. (1982). Local disruption and western energy development: A critical review. Pacific Sociological Review, 25, 275-296.
94.
Winders, B., & Nibert, D. (2004). Consuming the surplus: Expanding "meat" consumption and animal oppression. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 24, 76-96.
95.
Wooldridge, J.M. (2002). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data. Cambridge: MIT Press.
96.
Yang, B., & Lester, D. (2008). The deterrent effect of executions: A meta-analysis thirty years after Ehrlich. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36, 453-460.
97.
York, R. (2004). Humanity and inhumanity: Toward a sociology of the slaughterhouse. Organization and Environment, 17, 260-265.
