The American birth control movement was born among radicals, mostly socialist women, early in the twentieth century. Although some information about birth control had circulated in medical journals, books and advertising in the nineteenth century, the passage in 1873 of a federal obscenity law known as the Comstock law resulted in the absence of…

This report, third in a series based on data resulting from the World Fertility Survey (WFS), examines the extent of knowledge and use of contraception in 20 developing countries. The data analyzed in this report indicate that in 19 of the 20 countries (the exception being Nepal), three-quarters or more of the women who are or have been married…

In this report, emphasis is placed on major research developments in the reproductive sciences, their impact on the health of individuals as well as on that of society, and on current trends that may provide new opportunities for future research in fertility and infertility. In the first section, major developments in the reproductive sciences are…

Many teenagers will be pressured by either external or internal forces to become involved in sexual experiences. Assuming that adolescents will be faced with the question of whether or not to have intercourse, that this will be an individual decision involving internal control, and that each individual will have to make that decision, it becomes…

The Appalachian Adolescent Health and Education Project (AAHEP), in operation for 3 years, is a program designed to reduce adolescent pregnancy rates (prevention component) and provide care for pregnant teenagers (care component) in East Tennessee. Limitations in funding and service delivery prompted the AAHEP to modify its 15-county scope by…

The effect of more education for women on their fertility behavior is examined in this paper through the use of data from the National Bureau of Economic Research/Thorndike-Hagen sample (NBERTH) and a comparable group from the National Longitudinal Survey. The NBER-TH data are longitudinal 25-year histories of 5,083 white males and their families.…

This publication is a critical bibliography and assessment of scientific materials relating to family planning discontinuation rates. Most of the studies referenced were done in Asia, Africa, and South America. Chapter titles include: (1) Discontinuation: A Neglected Topic?; (2) Measuring Discontinuation; (3) What Happens After Termination; (4) A…

This paper selects and emphasizes some of the concepts and findings to be found in the author's book, Adolescent Sexuality in a Changing Society. This paper limits itself to various aspects of premarital intercourse among adolescents, including the personality traits of virgins and non-virgins, and the effects of education upon sexual attitudes.…

This research plan focuses on selected determinants of sexual behavior and contraceptive use for a stratified quota sample of adolescent boys and girls. Attention is concentrated on the socialization processes through which these youth develop attitudes toward heterosexual behavior and the ways in which these attitudes as well as situational…

Describes a school-based program that attempts to intervene in the failure syndrome of pregnant adolescents, which is reflected in the areas of education, health, self concept, and parenting. (PB)

This guidebook is designed to assist health workers in the delivery of information and education regarding reproductive health and fertility control to family planning clients. Aspects of services that might be provided by various staff members are suggested. Initially, family planning philosophy from which general operating principles are derived…

This student booklet, designed to teach deaf adolescents about human sexuality, is written for students with a second- to fourth-grade reading level. Topics include: (1) relationships; (2) adolescent growth and development; (3) female and male anatomy; (4) conception, fetal development, and birth; (5) contraception; and (6) sexual intercourse and…

All aspects of adolescent sexuality may be viewed as primarily sexual. The primary fact about adolescence is that the young person becomes capable of reproduction. Biological changes interact with psychological ones; the cognitive, motivational, social and emotional aspects are all directed toward becoming a sexual human being. In adolescence,…

The literature on the relationships between changes in mood and the menstrual cycle reveals many inconsistencies due to the absence of certain control procedures. Daily self-reports of moods and physical symptoms were collected from women with normal cycles, women using oral contraceptives, and men for 35 days in a camouflaged study. Retrospective…

In spite of the negative aspects of her determination to be the sole motivator, controller, and martyr for the birth control movement, Margaret Sanger was a positive social force in testing and denouncing the Comstock law. The law, named for Anthony Comstock, a postal inspector who had lobbied Congress to forbid the distribution of obscene…