A photo-essay describes typical activities in the worklife of Janice Fukai, an Asian-American lawyer in Los Angeles County. Black-and-white photographs accompany the straight-forward account of an individual public defender's work with clients who have been charged with serious crimes. (Ages 9-14)

Why do we find it necessary to slaughter living animals in order to enjoy their flesh? And why does this act offend our sensibilities, without necessarily making us into vegetarians? In her study of abattoirs in southwest France, Noélie Vialles brings to light a complex system of avoidances. Her analysis reveals that beyond the specific denial of the work of the abattoirs lies a whole system of symbolic representations of blood, human beings and animals, a symbolic code that determines the way in which we prepare domestic animals for the table.