The Development of Marriage Consultation Centers as a New Field of Social Medicine

Abstract

• /1, ARRIAGE consultation centers in Germanv and Austria. more tlutn on~ thou· lVl s-and in n\imber, are chiefly a postwar dev~lopment. Although operating under a variety of names/ they have the common purpose of directing public apinion toward the betterment of na~tional health in relation to the family. The groundwork for the growth of these centers can be discerned in the ac· tivities of certain lay groups. 'rhe Society for the Protection of Motherhood and Sex Reform started its work as early as 1905, under the able leadership of Helene Stocker. In 1908, a group in Dresden interested in race improvement and raee hygiene recommended the compulsory exchange of health certificates before issuance of the marriage license. Certain conditions which resulted from the war, or became manifest after it, precipitated the development of consultation centers in Germany and Austria. 1. Tho loss of men in the age groups of twenty to fifty during -the world war left a considerable number of women without an opportunity to found a family. 2. The economic situati-on and shortage of dwellings emphasized still other factors. 3. The increase in divorces from H.l for 100,000 inhabitants in 1900, to 5c6.8 in 1925, that is, equal to four times the ratio of 1900.1 4. An increased distribution of a large amount of literature on sex questions is still another factor. Side by side with these loosely related social problems was the desire of the state to rebuild the nation's health.