SOC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: United States Public Health Service, Macon County, Alabama, Syphilis

• School: U of M
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 100
• Professor: Luis Felipe Sfeir- Younis

Document Summary

Soc 100 - lecture 3 - ethical issues in research. How did it look in the past/future? (historical context) Syphilis breaks down nervous system, muscular system, causes a rash. It was an incurable disease in the 1930s. United states was concerned because of public health as well as the military, because of the spanish-american war. They needed healthy soldiers, so they eliminated prostitute houses to avoid even further spreading of the illness. This study had been performed in sweden, so the us wanted to study the illness" prominence among the african american population. At the time, african americans were considered at a different status even compared to poor whites. (the poorer one is, the more vulnerable and susceptible one is to disease). The study: in 1932, the us public health service (usphs) initiated an experiment in. Macon county, alabama, to determine the natural course of untreated, latent syphilis.