Trial and error in the pursuit of public health : Leicexter, 1849-1891

This study of Victorian Leicester has discovered three major findings about the study of public health. First, that public health history is complicated and inextricably connected to political history, social history, and cultural history. The borough passed from one equilibrium in 1849 to another equilibrium in 1891, but this passage did not occur by straight paths or by parallel paths. Second, that public health is a societal construction and the construction follows a pattern. First, a problem is defined. Second, a response is advocated. Third, the response is implemented. Fourth, people must cooperate with the response. Above all, the construction is complicated because there are a great many publics involved. In Victorian Leicester public health responses had great variation because of the number and different interests of the publics and because health issues were addressed in piecemeal fashion. Moreover responses were not necessarily ameliorative for the original problem.