Publication year: 2011
Source: Social Science & Medicine, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 27 August 2011
Roni, Factor , Ichiro, Kawachi , David R., Williams
Across different societies, non-dominant minority groups, compared to the dominant group, often exhibit higher rates of involvement in high-risk behaviors, such as smoking, drug and alcohol use, sexual risk behaviors, overeating, and unsafe driving habits. In turn, these behaviors have a well-documented impact on chronic disease, morbidity, and mortality. Previous studies have emphasized macro-structural or micro-agentic explanations for this phenomenon. Such explanations suffer from mirror-image shortcomings, such as, by emphasizing structural barriers, macro-level explanations leave out individual agency (“the over-socialized conception of the individual”), while micro-level theories give short shrift to structural constraints that prevent individuals from engaging in health-promoting…
Highlights: ► Compared to the dominant group, non-dominant minority groups often engage at higher rates in various unhealthy behaviors. ► To better understand this phenomenon we develop a social resistance framework which integrates macro and micro factors. ► The framework sees members of non-dominant minorities as individuals who actively engage in everyday resistance practices. ► These practices include various unhealthy behaviors which are a reaction to social power relations. ► The paper develops ten hypotheses and discusses the implications of the social resistance framework.