Clean Living Movements: American Cycles of Health Reform [Hardcover]

Ruth C. Engs (Author)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 328 pages
Publisher: Praeger (Jan 30 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0275959945
ISBN-13: 978-0275959944
Product Dimensions: 2.4 x 1.7 x 0.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 685 g

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Review

"In this provocative exploration of 'clean living movements' in the United States, Dr. Engs has focused on the historical development of efforts to promote healthier behaviors among the American Public....For anyone interested in health behaviors, the book provides substantial information about efforts to improve health practices since the early nineteenth century and should be a valuable resource for a variety of health related professions."-Mary L. Remley Professor Emeritus School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation Indiana University

Book Description

Over the past 200 years, a health reform movement has emerged about every 80 years. These clean living cycles surged with, or were tangential to, a religious awakening. Simultaneously with these awakenings, out groups such as immigrants and/or youth were seen to exhibit behaviors that undermined society. Middle class fear of these dangerous classes and a desire to eliminate disease, crime, and other perceived health or social problems led to crusades in each of the three reform eras against alcohol, tobacco, drugs, certain foods, and sexual behaviors. A backlash began to emerge from some segments of the population against reform efforts. After the dissipation of the activism phase, laws made during the reform era often became ignored or repealed. With a few exceptions, during the 30 to 40 year ebb of the cycle, the memory of the movement disappeared from public awareness.

The desire for improved health and social conditions also led to campaigns in favor of exercise, semi-vegetarian diets, women's rights, chastity, and eugenics. Engs describes the interweaving of temperance, women's rights, or religion with most health issues. Factions of established faiths emerged to fight perceived immorality, while alternative religions formed and adopted health reform as dogma. In the reform phase of each cycle, a new infectious disease threatened the population. Some alternative medical practices became popular that later were incorporated into orthodox medicine and public health. Ironically, over each succeeding movement, reformers became more likely to represent grass roots beliefs, or even to be state or federal officials, rather than independent activists.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
The Jacksonian era, sometimes called the era of the common man or the Antebellum Reform era, underlied the first Clean Living Movement. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An enlightened view on American health reform history, Nov 18 2004

By Lady Murasaki - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Clean Living Movements: American Cycles of Health Reform (Paperback)

There are several books published that aim to describe the history of public health in America. These books are often filled with dates and facts and struggle to separate themselves from books on the history of medicine. Ruth Clifford Engs' "Clean Living Movements", while a book on the history of public health, is not one of those books.

Engs describes the history of public health in the United States clearly and concisely as a series of 3 distinct health reform cycles (1830 - 1860, 1880 - 1920, and 1970 - 2005). Each cycle has ebbed and flowed, and each cycle has followed the same order of stages: moral suasion, coercion, backlash, and complacency. Engs gives the reader a well-organized outline of each "clean living movement" with enough supporting facts on the religious, political, technological, economic, cultural, and demographic changes surrounding each cycle that influenced views on health and health reform, making it unique (and sometimes similar) to the other cycles. Some topics she discusses are smoking, alcohol and drug consumption, exercise, eugenics, and sexuality. She also describes prominent health reformers in each cycle in detail.

This is my favorite book on public health history to date, as it is very easy to read and Engs strongly and clearly makes her case of the cyclical nature of health reform. It is well-organized, simply written, and well-researched. This text is quite sociological, historical, and anthropological, making it accessible to diverse readers, and includes an exhaustive list of references.

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