Children and Youth in Sickness and in Health: A Historical Handbook and Guide

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Six original essays reflect the growing scholarly interest in the history of childhood and youth, particularly issues affecting child health and welfare. These important new essays show how changing patterns of health and disease have responded to and shaped notions of childhood and adolescence as life stages. Until the early 20th century, life-threatening illnesses were a sinister presence in the lives of children of all social classes. Today, many diseases and threats to child health have been eliminated or alleviated. Yet critical problems remain. New threats such as AIDS and violence take a steady toll. Child health remains an active concern for all families. Despite the development of health care policies, social welfare policies, and effective medication, the home remainsas it was in the Colonial periodthe most critical site of care. Parents are still central to the preservation of children's health. This work imposes a holistic view of this experience for children and families. By examining the child's perspective of illness, the authors make an important contribution to the understanding of illness as part of the developmental process of growing up.

Reviews

[T]his new reference is unique becuase of its focus and format. Based on the premise that children have largely been ignored in standard history books, just as women have been previously, the series attempts to fill in the gaps and provide researchers with access to information about the place of children and adolescents in American history....[a]n invaluable starting point for any student wishing to investigate the topic of children's health, it is also a lesson in how to conduct research. The book is an excellent source of ideas and information, and the general topic has been broken down into related subtopics, all of which have been meticulously documented. This reference is well worth the cost and belongs on every school library shelf.-VOYA
"This new reference is unique becuase of its focus and format. Based on the premise that children have largely been ignored in standard history books, just as women have been previously, the series attempts to fill in the gaps and provide researchers with access to information about the place of children and adolescents in American history....an invaluable starting point for any student wishing to investigate the topic of children's health, it is also a lesson in how to conduct research. The book is an excellent source of ideas and information, and the general topic has been broken down into related subtopics, all of which have been meticulously documented. This reference is well worth the cost and belongs on every school library shelf."-VOYA
"[T]his new reference is unique becuase of its focus and format. Based on the premise that children have largely been ignored in standard history books, just as women have been previously, the series attempts to fill in the gaps and provide researchers with access to information about the place of children and adolescents in American history....[a]n invaluable starting point for any student wishing to investigate the topic of children's health, it is also a lesson in how to conduct research. The book is an excellent source of ideas and information, and the general topic has been broken down into related subtopics, all of which have been meticulously documented. This reference is well worth the cost and belongs on every school library shelf."-VOYA

Author Bio

JANET GOLDEN is Associate Professor history at Rutgers. She is the author of A Social History of Wet Nursing in America: From Breast to Bottle and a forthcoming book on the history of fetal alcohol syndrome. RICHARD A. MECKEL is Associate Professor of American Civilization and History at Brown University. He is the author of Save the Babies: American Public Health Reform and the Prevention of Infant Mortality, 1850-1939 (Johns Hopkins). HEATHER MONRO PRESCOTT Heather Munro Prescott is Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University. She is the author of A Doctor of Their Own: The History of Adolescent Medicine.