he concepts involving the provision of public health have expanded and changed significantly in this coun try, however, during the twentieth century.
Societal attitudes also play a major role in the develop ment of public health policy in the United States. Like it or not, justifiable or not, the perceptions which white, middle class Americans hold about themselves are a major factor in the development of public health policy in the United States. These perceptions often obstruct the development of effective public health policy, because they tend to ignore linkages between environmental and ecological causes, and the diseases prevalent in society, and the linkages between economic objec tives, environmental and ecological causes, and corrective actions.6 Ignoring or circumventing these linkages has a long history in the United States.7
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, "society has been plagued by . . . great numbers of workers hurt and disabled on the job."8 Generally, workers' compensation is viewed as a mechanism whch permits society to deal effectively with this problem. Critics contend, however, that workers' compensation is a mechanism which permits employers to avoid much of their responsibility to injured workers by hiding behind a governmental regulatory screen.9 These differing views stem from the premise underlying workers' compensation, which is the compensation of employees on a no fault basis for on the job injuries and illnesses, in exchange for the loss of an employee's right to sue employers for negligence connected with on the job injuries and illnesses.10
Workers' compensation began in Germany in 1884. It came to the English speaking world in 1897 when Great Britain enacted a workers' compensation law. Between 1911 and 1921, workers' compensation laws were finally enacted in 42 states in the United States. Although employees could sue employers for work related injuries prior to the ...