Citation

Rodwell G. Paedag. Hist. 1998; 34: 179-199.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00309230.1998.11434914

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

During the nineteenth century in Australia, temperance advocates asserted their cause on moral grounds. However, with the surge of progressivist, or vitalist thought through Australian society at the beginning of the twentieth century, under the influence of the demands of national efficiency, the moral dimension of temperance was added to those of eugenics. This occurred at a time when the medical profesdon was beginning to assert its influence over public education with the appointment of medical officers to the State Departments of Education. State schools were an obvious targetfor temperance campaigns. Many of the pioneer school medical officers were eugenic and temperance advocates. The racial suicide scare gripped Australian bourgeois society during the first decade of the twentieth century added point and purpose to the temperance cause. During this time, the temperance cause increasingly became shrouded in eugenic ideals and practices. With the onset of the social and economic crises of World War I many temperance advocates became prohibition advocates. Temperance education accordingly was influenced by these wider social developments. © 1998 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Language: en