In this manuscript, we expand upon sociological research in lay knowledge about health and healthicization by examining socially mediated ways in which 40 African American adults in two communities acquired information about eating practices. Participants employed a variety of socially informed information-seeking strategies. Many, but not all, used socially prescribed sources exhorting them to maximize their own health and reported an amalgam of experiences concerning their interpretation of healthist messages. Participants variously accepted messages about healthy eating or engaged in strategies of micro-resistance that decentered and/or reinterpreted health promotion discourse. Furthermore, participants used emic community-based resources including those that prioritized familial engagement over individual responsibility in eating practices or that drew upon alternative health practices. We discuss the implications our work has for further research on healthicization and lay knowledge about eating practices, in which community members are actively engaged in meaning-making within local socio-structural contexts.
This article examines the knowledge and perceptions of detained juveniles about the roles of juvenile justice officials and the nature of the juvenile justice system. Data were collected through interviews in a group setting. The small sample size limited the generalizability of the findings but provided specific information important for future research and policymaking on an under‐studied group. The study found that the experiences of the juveniles with the justice system provided only limited understanding of the system's processes and confusion about juvenile justice officials' roles. The juveniles did not have a clear understanding of how each official's role operated within a set of roles that constitutes the system. Further, they did not fully understand the cumulative effect of juvenile processing.
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