The changing practice of eating: evidence from UK time diaries, 1975 and 2000

This paper examines some central themes about change in consumption behaviour through an empirical investigation of the practice of eating. It analyses patterns of food consumption in the UK using time diary data from 1975 and 2000. The practice of eating is decomposed into four component activities which are used to explore systematically the inter-relationships between social processes - such as commodification and temporal fragmentation - and ways of providing and consuming food. It charts the expansion of eating out, the degree to which it substitutes for other eating activities, and the implications of its development for social relations and the temporal organization of daily life. Analysis reveals that food consumption continues to be differentiated along established lines of social division, although the content of those divisions has changed and varies across components of the practice. Increasing commodification of the food chain is documented, but without appearing to have a corrosive impact on household organization or social relationships. While tendencies indicative of temporal fragmentation are revealed, counter-tendencies exist which suggest that the practice of eating is resilient to many forms of external pressure. Finally, the application of a practice-based analytical approach permits critical evaluation of theories of social transformation.     

A family systems-based model of organizational intervention

Employee assistance professionals are expected to be proficient at intervening in organizations and creating meaningful behavioral change in interpersonal functioning. Because of their training in family systems theories and concepts, marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are well suited to serve organizations as "systems consultants." Unfortunately, the authors were unable to identify any family systems-based models for organizational intervention that have been empirically tested and supported. In this article, the authors present a family systems-based model of intervention that they developed while working in an employee assistance program (EAP). They also present research that was used to refine the model and to provide initial support for its effectiveness.     

An evaluation of retail outlets as part of a community prevention trial to reduce sales of harmful legal products to youth

Communities across the nation have become increasingly concerned about inhalant use and use of harmful legal products among youth because of increasing prevalence rates and deleterious health consequences from abusing these products. The increasing concern of communities about inhaling and ingesting legal products has been coupled with increasing awareness and concern about ability of youth to access and abuse a variety of other legal retail products. There are few examples of scientifically designed community prevention projects that seek to reduce youth abuse of such legal products. This article describes a community prevention trial that is designed to reduce sales of inhalants and other harmful legal products to youth and demonstrates how the retailer component of the trial can be rigorously evaluated. It also shows how data from youth purchase attempts can complement survey data from retailers.     

Subnational Non-Hispanic White Natural Decrease in the United States

This research is the first to examine the prevalence and dynamics of non-Hispanic white natural decrease in fine scale subregional units of the United States. In 2015, more non-Hispanic Whites died than were born in 65 percent of the US counties. This is the highest incidence of non-Hispanic white natural decrease ever reported. It results from a complex interaction among fertility, mortality, and migration over a protracted period. Spatial regression is used to identify three critical variables (over-65 population, child–women ratio, and women of childbearing age) that are the immediate demographic causes of this natural decrease. The timely, factual information in this paper provides a demographic context for analysis of the social, political, and policy implications of this emergent demographic phenomenon.     

“We're the Normal Ones Here”: Community Involvement,Peer Support,and Transgender Mental Health

This article uses ethnographic methods to explore how peer support and community involvement influence the mental health and well-being of transgender (or, trans) people in the southeastern United States. The study builds on existing research that suggests that trans community involvement and peer support among trans people enhance mental health experiences and moderate the effects of stigma and discrimination on health outcomes. Through qualitative analysis of 158 hours of participant observation and 33 in-depth interviews with members of a trans community organization in the U.S. Southeast, this paper identifies three key processes through which peer support and community involvement enhance the mental health and well-being of trans people: (1) the normalization of trans identities and experiences; (2) the creation of a social support network; and (3) the empowerment of trans people.     

Disruption and the theory of the interaction order

Micro-sociological theory has traditionally stressed interactional pressures towards alignment: actors’ attempts to co-construct a shared definition of the situation. We argue that this model provides an insufficient account of the coordination of action and of the emergence of intersubjectivity among actors. To complement the focus on alignment, we develop a theory of disruption—a perceived misalignment of the dramaturgical structure of interaction in coordinating expected lines of action. We develop a theory of the interaction order that takes the interplay between interactional alignment and disruption as a foundational challenge both for sociology and for actors in their everyday lives. We focus on the practical ways in which actors negotiate both interactional breaches and wider relational ruptures, and how they differentiate between disruptions-of relations and disruptions-for them. By doing so, we connect the interaction order to a wider relational order, providing a bridge between micro-level interactionism and the sociology of culture.

     

Explaining individual differences in infant visual sensory seeking

Individual differences in infants’ engagement with their environment manifest early in development and are noticed by parents. Three views have been advanced to explain differences in seeking novel stimulation. The optimal stimulation hypothesis suggests that individuals seek further stimulation when they are under‐responsive to current sensory input. The processing speed hypothesis proposes that those capable of processing information faster are driven to seek stimulation more frequently. The information prioritization hypothesis suggests the differences in stimulation seeking index variation in the prioritization of incoming relative to ongoing information processing. Ten‐month‐old infants saw 10 repetitions of a video clip and changes in frontal theta oscillatory amplitude were measured as an index of information processing speed. Stimulus‐locked P1 peak amplitude in response to checkerboards briefly overlaid on the video at random points during its presentation indexed processing of incoming stimulation. Parental report of higher visual seeking did not relate to reduced P1 peak amplitude or to a stronger decrease in frontal theta amplitude with repetition, thus not supporting either the optimal stimulation or the processing speed hypotheses. Higher visual seeking occurred in those infants whose P1 peak amplitude was greater than expected based on their theta amplitude. These findings indicate that visual sensory seeking in infancy is explained by a bias toward novel stimulation, thus supporting the information prioritization hypothesis.     

Talking Turkey: Effects of Family Discussions About the 2016 Election over the Thanksgiving Holiday

Four hundred and seventy-nine undergraduates reported on family discussions about the 2016 election that occurred over that same year’s Thanksgiving break. Family Communication Patterns Theory was used to predict the perceived outcomes of such discussion on family members. Higher conversation orientation predicted a more positive perceived effect of political talk on family closeness. Perceived similarity of political views partially moderated the relationship between conformity orientation and perceived effect of political talk on family closeness. Reported stress levels since the election were negatively predicted by the perceived (positive) effect of political talk on family closeness. Practical and theoretical implications for families and political socialization processes are discussed.     

Wanting To Be Remembered: Intrinsically Rewarding Work and Generativity in Early Midlife

Previous research on generativity, the desire to leave a legacy through establishing and guiding the next generation, has focused primarily on family life and civic engagement as pathways to midlife generativity. This paper proposes that intrinsically rewarding work can also be associated with a heightened sense of generativity in midlife. We test this hypothesis with data (n = 369 employed individuals, approximately 43 years old) from the 2010 wave of the Edmonton Transitions Study. Civic engagement was positively associated with midlife generativity, as predicted, but the hypothesized positive relationship between generativity and perceived parenting success was not found. Taking into account civic engagement and perceived parenting success, and controlling on a range of other variables, intrinsically rewarding work was positively associated with midlife feelings of generativity.