Values and Virtue

Abstract

This article illustrates the concepts of morality policy and politics by examining the 1996 Title V federal grants for abstinence-only sex education. Drawing from the existing literature on morality policy and politics, it includes a theoretical framework for the study of morality policy and an analysis of abstinenceonly education as it was shaped at the federal, state, and local levels. Using the example of Title V in Kentucky, this case study well illustrates the expectations of conflict in adoption and controversy in implementation of morality policy. Furthermore, it provides an admonition for practitioners about compromise in even the most contentious morality policy battles.