Hygiea Internationalis 2007 6(2): 121–133
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Author:
Ida Blom
Publication title:
Contagion and Cultural Perceptions of Accepted Behaviour : Tuberculosis and Venereal Diseases in Scandinavia c.1900–c.1950
Publication type:
Article
Volume:
6
Issue:
2
Article no.: 8
doi: 10.3384/hygiea.1403-8668.0771121
Language:
English
Abstract: This article compares legislation in the three Scandinavian countries on tuberculosis and venereal disease during the first half of the twentieth century.  It attempts to highlight what was perceived as unacceptable behaviour that might cause disease and consequently legitimise public coercion.  According to the letter of the laws all citizens should be treated in the same way.  But in the case of tuberculosis unacceptable behaviour exposing an individual to public coercion was found with the poor population: Where venereal disease was concerned extra-marital sex was seen as the risk factor for all citizens.  Still,  the primary target groups were prostitutes and certain groups of young women.
   It is suggested that, pending further comparative research, national differences in legal provisions may be explained by the prevalence of the disease, by political and economic circumstances, and in the case of tuberculosis by different perceptions of the contagious nature of the disease.
Keywords: Scandinavia, legislation, coercion, poverty, gender, sexuality, Contagion
PDF
Publisher:
Linköping University Electronic Press, Linköpings universitet
Year: 2007
Available:
2007-12-27
No. of pages:
13
Pages: 121–133
Journal: Hygiea Internationalis : An Interdisciplinary Journal for the History of Public Health
ISSN (print): 1403-8668
ISSN (online): 1404-4013
File:
http://www.ep.liu.se/ej/hygiea/v6/i2/a08/hygiea07v6i2a8.pdf

REFERENCE TO THIS PAGE
Blom, Ida (2007). Contagion and Cultural Perceptions of Accepted Behaviour : Tuberculosis and Venereal Diseases in Scandinavia c.1900–c.1950 in Hygiea Internationalis 6(2): 121–133. http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/hygiea.1403-8668.0771121 ( )