Social Structure and Moral Reform: A Study of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
@article{Gusfield1955SocialSA, title={Social Structure and Moral Reform: A Study of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union}, author={Joseph R. Gusfield}, journal={American Journal of Sociology}, year={1955}, volume={61}, pages={221 - 232} }
Analysis of WCTU journals and reports and interviews with current leaders reveal a pattern at variance with theories of an adaptive process in social movements. In pre-Prohibition periods humanitarian reform was the central theme in WCTU doctrine. Temperance was viewed as the solution to problems of underprivileged groups. Since Repeal, the WCTU has ceased to represent dominant social classes, and its doctrine has become the expression of moral indignation toward upper-middle-class life…
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