SYPHILIS OF THE INNOCENT A Study of the Social Effects of With 152 Illustrative Cases Made under a Grant from the United States Interdepartmental Social Hygiene Board Chief of Therapeutic Research, Boston Psychopathic Hospital AND MAIDA HERMAN SOLOMON, A.B., B.S. Research Social Worker, Boston Psychopathic Hospital, Boston WASHINGTON UNITED STATES INTERDEPARTMENTAL SOCIAL HYGIENE BOARD 1922 A N33 568 1922 PREFACE For some years we have been interested in the family of the syphilitic. This interest has extended beyond the purely medical problems to the social effects of syphilis. There has come the realization that in many instances syphilis is a disease which invades the family. The family being but a unit of the community, it follows that the communal structure is also involved. The United States Interdepartmental Social Hygiene Board has granted us funds for the study and investigation of problems related to the familial and social aspects of syphilis. The results of several studies have been published in current journals, but as our investigations increased it seemed to be more satisfactory to publish them as a unit rather than as separate entities. We have attempted to present the subject of syphilis in its social aspects, portraying the practical problems as they actually arise in the handling of syphilitic cases, and illustrating the text with cases from the clinic. It is our hope that we have been able to show that the problems of syphilis are many more than those of purely medical interest. Acknowledgment must be made first of all to the United States Interdepartmental Social Hygiene Board whose grant of funds made it possible to carry on many of the investigations and to collect and publish the material here presented. Our revered former chief, Dr. E. E. Southard, suggested the idea of presenting our work in the form of a monograph. While his untimely death prevented him from giving the oversight and advice that he otherwise would have done, we hope that we have profited to some extent by what he did give us. While the major portion of the material comes from our clinic at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital, we have fortunately been able to collect material from several other sources. We would especially acknowledge our indebtedness to the following persons and institutions: Dr. C. Morton Smith, physician in chief of the South Medical Department of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, 53656 iii |
