Stigmatization of a profession?

We perceive professions quite differently: some are highly regarded others far less so. Some seem to be the perfect topic for small talk others leave us silent. The project focuses on the second category, more precisely on professions that are referred to in research as dirty work. This term is not intended as a judgement. The research does not say that these jobs should be valued less than others; the focus is rather on the social perception of these jobs. There are jobs that generally do not have a high prestige, for different reasons: some jobs are perceived as disgusting and repulsive; some are associated with images one would prefer not to see with ones own eyes; others are considered morally questionable. The research around dirty work assumes that these jobs are often done by people who have few alternatives and that these occupational groups experience stigmatisation, which means that they are viewed negatively by parts of society. All of this does not apply to veterinary medicine: the veterinary profession is generally highly regarded. The profession is mainly associated with actions in the presumed best interest of the animal. However, it is often overlooked that veterinarians do not only work in clinics and practices, but their expertise is also needed in other contexts, for example at the slaughterhouse. This is where weve come full circle with what has been described above: Working in a slaughterhouse can indeed be interpreted as dirty work. When the word slaughterhouse is mentioned, many people think of blood, viscera, noise and stench; some people consider the killing of animals fundamentally immoral; but even people who eat meat generally avoid confrontation with images from a slaughterhouse. The core of the project is an empirical survey among veterinarians who work in slaughterhouses: To what extent do they experience their work as stigmatised? What coping strategies help them to deal with the (potential) stigmatisation? And to what extent and in what ways do they integrate their work into their professional identity as veterinarians? The project will deepen the understanding of dirty work by looking at a job that has barely been studied in this context. By doing so, it will also address the conditions of current food production in general. Furthermore, the project is located in the research field of empirical veterinary ethics, which identifies and analyses the moral challenges, principles and self- understandings of veterinary medicine in different fields of work.