For Their Own Good

More about the book

Focusing on the transition of health responsibilities from informal community settings to professional medical institutions, the book analyzes the interplay of gender, class, and cultural factors in three English communities from 1880 to 1970. Through 239 oral history interviews and public health reports, it explores how working-class health culture evolved alongside official healthcare services, highlighting the significant societal shifts in managing illness, birth, and death during the mid-twentieth century.