Psychosocial Risks among Farmers

by Aude Naud, Marion Soret et Pauline Thebault

There are few studies on the psychosocial risks among farmers whereas the reality is harsh, as shown by the increasing number of cases of suicides. This job is complex, with the following specific aspects :

• The transgenerational aspect : the farm is often passed down from father to son, which creates a symbolic pressure.
• Macroeconomic variations : this job is linked to agricultural policy, dependence to world prices of raw materials, and sanitary standards….
• Microeconomic variations :improving farm facilities causes debt, the price of products… This job is also no longer valued by society.
• The work itself : there are a lot of demands and a lot of work (a lot of time, paperwork, work multitasking). This job is also experiencing rapid changes,  and there is a need for professional counseling.
• Occupational hazards : this work is subject to weather variations, equipment failures and diseases.
• Controls imposed by society : health controls, farm policy controls, paperwork controls.
• Management : farmers need to think about the future (enlargement, diversification), and to have a corporate strategy.
• The difficult balance between work and personal and social life : professional life takes up so much time that sometimes, there is no time for personal or social life. That causes isolationand suffering. Relations with neighbours can be positive (solidarity, mutual assistance) or negative (competition, lack of regard).

The aim of the study is to understand the psychosocial risk factors among farmers through a reflection on various spheres of their lives.

There are two approaches to apprehend the psychosocial risk : the pathogenic Approach and the salutogenic Approach.

The pathogenic approach is interested by the suffering, the malaise causes by work conditions, through notions such as stress, exhaustion and burnout. This approach uses models to understand and circumvent these risks. The psychosocial risks lead to a disequilibrium between work requirements and the individual’s resources, the latter being exceeded. The questions is : What causes stress ?

The salutogenic approach, inspired by positive psychology, understand the work as a source of pleasure and achievment which favorites well-being. This is why this approach looks for the levers of health and thus well-being in the work and puts the accent on the individual’s resources. The question is : How to promote well-being and prevent psychosocial risk ?

This study use a qualitative approach, 26 interviews were conducted to explain the psychosocial risks to which they are exposed every day.

The results show the complexity of the job. The psychosocial risks are multifactorial and combine to form stress. As a strategy, to fight over isolation and stick to the representation of « a good farmer », farmers tend to spend more and more time at work (an obsessional character of work) bringing farmers to neglect the other spheres of their lives. As a consequence, the hypertrophy of the professional sphere exacerbate the psychosocial risk. This strategy brings a social isolation and reduce the farmer’s identity to their professional identity. The farmer spends a lot of time at work, with an important workload, without recognition and fullfilment regarding their efforts.

Social relationships can be also stretched out (controls are lived as a harassment, and the relations with the neighbors can be based on jealousy and competition for lands). Autonomy (independence) at work is not necessarily lived as such because of the economic, political, sanitary variations (which are important and unpredictable). A big pathogenic factor, bringing to the professional exhaustion, is this massive investment at work.

A balance between professional sphere and social, personal and family spheres would be a preventive element from the suffering at work among farmers. More farmers keep a balanced lifestyle with psychosocial dimensions, less they suffer from stress. The authors put the hypothesis of an increased  risk of morbidity in case of hypotrophy of other spheres of life.

In conclusion, the obsessional character of the work can drive to a hypertrophy of the professional sphere to the detriment of others. On the contrary, a good investment on other spheres and psychosocial dimensions are salutogenic factors, there is fewer stress. These elements put the importance of isolation in the exercise of this profession, as a pathogenic factor.

 

Bibliography :

Lenoir, F.-R., & Ramboarison-Lalao, L. (2014). Equilibre des sphères de vie et prévention des risques psychosociaux. Le cas des exploitants agricoles. RIMHE : Revue Interdisciplinaire Management, Homme & Entreprise, (12), 45‑61.