The operation failed, but the patient survived: varying assessments of the Soviet Union's last anti-alcohol campaign

From the mid 1980s mortality levels have fluctuated greatly in the former Soviet Union. After dropping substantially during the late 1980s, mortality rose to unprecedented levels during the early 1990s. The sharp fluctuations in mortality are commonly linked to variations in alcohol consumption in connection with the anti-alcohol campaign launched in 1985. This large-scale natural alcohol policy experiment has produced very mixed appraisal and this article provides a systematic review of the wide variety of judgments, focusing on goals, implementation, and effects on life expectancy, alcohol consumption, mortality, crime, etc. Deviant evaluations are in part ascribable to a general schism between narrowly focused epidemiological perspectives on public health interventions and broader social science approaches to political reform.

The feckless mother: women, poverty and social workers in wartime and post-war England

This article considers the stigmatisation of poor mothers during and after the Second World War and highlights the promotion of the image of the feckless mother, together with explanations for her plight, which hinged on personal rather than environmental factors. Eugenic ideas informing the construct of the "problem mother" determined the ways in which the phenomenon was understood and treatment designed, and contributed to the failure to develop a critique of the poverty and deprivation which afflicted families. As material conditions improved after the War, so the incidence of the "problem family" declined, although changing fashions in childcare continued to hold mothers responsible for ills affecting their families.

Social work and the behavioral sciences: past history, future prospects

The relationship between social work and medical sociology is analyzed, utilizing case studies of an academic institution, Harvard University, and a private foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation. Both strongly supported social work during the first decades of the twentieth century, and both changed their focus to social science. Why this change occurred, and its implications for social work and the behavioral sciences in medical education is the central theme of this discussion.

One hundred years ago. Nursing education at the dawn of the 20th century

The late 19th and early 20th centuries ushered in a number of significant events that helped advance the nursing profession in its early development. Nursing leaders began to show interest in the reform movements under way, such as woman's suffrage, settlement houses, and labor activities. They knew that nurses were not alone in their struggle to improve the health of the public. Philanthropic groups abounded, working for social betterment as well as for changes needed in overcrowded tenements, food inspection, and information to the nation about healthy living (1). In addition, serious concerns surfaced in the profession relating to the proliferation of training schools and reforms required in the educational system.

A century of forensic social work: bridging the past to the present

This article traces the emergence of forensic social work from the Progressive Era and the founding of the first juvenile court in 1899 to present day policies and practices with victims of violent crimes and with juvenile and adult offenders. Although social workers have been providing outreach to at-risk youths, gang members, offenders, and crime victims for a century, the term "forensic social work" has not previously been widely used. A unifying definition of forensic social work is provided. This article examines the most significant federal initiatives that have provided funding for forensic social workers to reach out to at-risk youths, offenders, and crime victims. It emphasizes the role of forensic social workers in different settings: police departments, juvenile courts, probation departments, adult corrections, and domestic violence and victim assistance programs. This article also includes a discussion of the unique contribution of forensic social workers in advocating for the social service needs of crime victims as well as of offenders.

The unwritten story of women's role in the birth of occupational health and safety legislation

Women's role in the formation of trade unions and development of collective bargaining, as well as in labor's historical struggle to improve day-to-day working conditions, has been conspicuously underplayed, if not ignored. Yet, when one reviews the history of the reduction of working hours, prohibition of child labor, elimination of homework in tenement slums, reform of factory legislation, and investigations into accidents precipitating early workers' compensation legislation, the literature is rich with women's investigative reports and studies on unhealthy and unsafe working conditions. This was the case from the late 19th century in North America up until the 1950s and the Cold War. The women's movement and political activities requiring factory reforms then seemed to go underground, re-emerging in full force during the 1960s. Women's involvement in the environmental movement, especially in the United States, has been significant in politicizing occupational health as well. Their efforts led to the 1970 passage of the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Act.