Social hygiene
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The social or mental hygiene movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was an attempt by Progressive-era reformers to control venereal disease, regulate prostitution and vice, and disseminate sexual education through the use of scientific research methods and modern media techniques.
Social hygiene as a profession grew alongside social work and other public health movements of the era. Social hygienists emphasized sexual continence and strict self-discipline as a solution to societal ills, tracing prostitution, drug use and illegitimacy to rapid urbanization.
The American Social Hygiene Association was formed in 1913.
The movement remained alive throughout the 20th century and found its way into American schools, where it was transmitted in the form of classroom films about menstruation, sexually transmitted disease, drug abuse and acceptable sexual behavior in addition to an array of pamphlets, posters and textbooks.
See Also
External Links
- American Social Hygiene Posters (http://special.lib.umn.edu/swha/IMAGES/home.html) - Online repository of social hygiene posters from the University of Minnesota