Health at Risk
Experiences of blackberry pickers in Mexico from a qualitative perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32870/punto.v12i23.312Keywords:
occupational health, occupational exposure, occupational risks, social factors, qualitative researchAbstract
Objective: To understand the experiences and perceptions of occupational health among blackberry pickers in Mexico, and to describe the meanings these workers assign to their working and health conditions.
Method: A qualitative study was conducted using an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA). Nine semi-structured interviews were carried out with blackberry pickers in different locations in western Mexico. The analysis was performed with the support of Atlas.ti software, using open coding and thematic clustering, following the five phases of IPA: initial reading, identification of emergent meanings, thematic connection, cross-case integration, and phenomenological interpretation.
Results: The analysis revealed four main themes: (1) The body accustomed to effort, which reflects the normalization of pain and fatigue as part of occupational identity; (2) Between sacrifice and necessity, where work is experienced as both a moral duty and a means of subsistence; (3) To endure is to be healthy, which redefines health as functional capacity rather than physical well-being; and (4) Caring for one another, highlighting informal networks of support and collective care in the face of institutional precariousness.
Conclusions: The occupational health of harvesters is configured as a bodily, moral, and relational experience, where psychosocial factors shape the perception of risk and well-being. Recognizing these symbolic and cultural dimensions can strengthen intervention strategies, training, and public policies in occupational health, particularly in vulnerable agricultural contexts.
References
Camarena-Ojinaga, L.; von-Glascoe, C.; Martínez-Valdés, C. y Arellano-García, E. (2013). Riesgos del trabajo y salud: percepción de mujeres indígenas jornaleras en el noroeste de México. Salud Colectiva, 9 (2), 247–256. https://doi.org/10.18294/sc.2013.35
Chávez-Santos, E.; Flores-Moreno, M.; Hernández, A.; García, R. M.; Spector, J. T.; Ornelas, I. J. y Baquero, B. (2025). “A veces no aguantas lo pesado que es el trabajo”: A qualitative study on work conditions, labor and social policies, and health among Latino agricultural workers in Washington State. SSM–Qualitative Research in Health, 7, 100507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2024.100507
Figueroa, S. (2002). Introducción a la salud pública. Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas.
Finlay, L. (2009). Debating Phenomenological Research Methods. Phenomenology & Practice, 3 (1). https://doi.org/10.29173/pandpr19818
Heidegger, M. (1967). Being and Time. Blackwell. (Trabajo original publicado en 1927).
Husserl, E. (2012). Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology (2.ª ed.) Routledge. (Trabajo original publicado en 1913).
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. SAGe Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412995658
Prieto-Amaral, E. G. y Barrera-De León, J. C. (2025). Validity of an ergonomic risk assessment instrument in agricultural workers in a pilot test. Case: Farm Gómez Farías, Jal. Red de Investigación en Salud en el Trabajo, 8 (S6), 14–16. https://rist.zaragoza.unam.mx/index.php/rist/article/view/894
Pulgar, C. A.; Trejo, G.; Suerken, C.; Ip, E. H.; Arcury, T. A. y Quandt, S.
A. (2016). Economic hardship and depression among women in Latino farmworker families. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 18 (3), 497–504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0229-6
Rosa, M. J.; Armendáriz-Arnez, C.; Gudayol-Ferré, E.; Prehn, M.; Fuhrimann, S.; Eskenazi, B.; Lindh, Ch. y Mora, A. M. (2024, marzo). Association of pesticide exposure with neurobehavioral outcomes among avocado farmworkers in Mexico. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 256: 114322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2024.114322
Smith, J. A.; Flowers, P. y Larkin, M. (2012). Interpretative Phenome-nological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research. SAGe Publications.
van-Manen, M. (1997). Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy (2.ª ed.) Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315421056
Xiao, H.; McCurdy, S. A.; Stoecklin-Marois, M. T.; Li, C. S. y Schen-ker, M. B. (2013). Agricultural work and chronic musculoskeletal pain among Latino farm workers: The miCASA study. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 56 (2), 216–225. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22118
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Edgar Geovanni Prieto Amaral, Juan Carlos Barrera de León
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Los autores/as que publiquen en esta revista aceptan las siguientes condiciones:
De acuerdo con la legislación de derechos de autor, Punto Cunorte reconoce y respeta el derecho moral de los autores, así como la titularidad del derecho patrimonial. Bajo la iniciativa de Budapest de acceso abierto, el autor otorga derechos conexos a la Universidad de Guadalajara, al Centro Universitario del Norte y a la revista Punto Cunorte para su difusión en acceso abierto. Punto Cunorte no realiza cargos a los autores por enviar y procesar artículos para su publicación.
Los autores/as pueden realizar otros acuerdos contractuales independientes y adicionales para la distribución no exclusiva de la versión del artículo publicado en Punto Cunorte (por ejemplo incluirlo en un repositorio institucional o publicarlo en un libro) siempre que indiquen claramente que el trabajo se publicó por primera vez en Punto Cunorte.
Esta obra está bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional.
