Proposed in this application is the preparation of a social history of the emergence of adolescent medicine as a distinct clinical subspeciality in the mid-20th century United States. To date, adolescent medicine has been a culture-bound specialty, dealing not only with the strictly biomedical problems of adolescence, but also such personal and psychosocial issues as school failure, substance abuse, contraception, rebellion, and emotional disturbance. Because the field is so interconnected with social and cultural issues, an historical study of adolescent medicine can provide insight not only into technological discoveries and professional advancements within medicine, but can illuminate larger changes in the relationship between 20th-century American society and medicine. Drawing on published medical literature, oral histories of physicians in the field, patient records from adolescent medical facilities, popular advice literature, and source materials such as diaries and letters generated by parents and teenagers, the Principal Investigator in this project will examine the interplay between the emergence of adolescent medicine and changes in American family relationships, youth culture, popular perceptions about young people, and the social experience of adolescence. A major focus of the project will be the extent to which young people themselves shaped the emergence of this new medical discipline.
