Eugenics

Eugenics

Eugenics refers to methods of improving the hereditary qualities of a race or breed. Some critics of eugenics convey argued that inwards the hands of a powerful authorities it would endure used to brand genetic alterations to command potential criminal too antisocial behavior.

Eugenics literally agency “well-born” too describes efforts to improve lodge past times breeding ameliorate people—by encouraging the reproduction of people with “good” genes too discouraging those with “bad” genes. At to the lowest degree xiv countries, including the United States, enacted some cast of eugenics practise inwards the early on twentieth century.

The practise of eugenics inwards the firstly one-half of the twentieth century inwards the US led to the compulsory sterilization of 60,000 “feebleminded” people inwards thirty-three states, too indeed, compulsory sterilizations continued to endure legal inwards California until the 1970s.


The U.S. Supreme Court instance Buck v. Bell (1927), allowed (in its words) the sterilization of the feebleminded, insane, criminalistic, epileptic, inebriate, diseased, blind, deaf, deformed, dependent, orphaned, tramps, homeless, too paupers every bit a agency of bettering society.

The Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor inwards New York was the headquarters of eugenics enquiry inwards the US from 1910 to 1940. Here, scientists promoted their racist ideals nether the guise of science, convincing the U.S. Supreme Court too to a greater extent than than 20 states that their ideas were valid.

Other organizations involved inwards the eugenics motility included the American Breeders Association, the Race Betterment Foundation, too the American Eugenics Society. Such organizations promoted the myths of genetic causes of a broad make of psychological too behavioral disorders. Eventually, the Public Health Service too the Surgeon General aligned with the eugenics movement.

As eugenicists produced their science, universities including Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, too Brown offered courses inwards eugenics. By 1928, only about 20,000 students were enrolled inwards almost 400 courses at universities inwards the United States.

At the same time, laws were enacted restricting immigration into the United States, requiring sterilization of the “feebleminded,” too forbidding interracial marriages. Very wealthy people non solely stood behind the validity of eugenics but also encouraged it.

These people included David Starr Jordan, president of Stanford University, Mrs. E. H. Harriman, who gave $15,000 to the Eugenics Record Office, too corporate giants John D. Rockefeller too John Harvey Kellogg. The Pioneer Fund, a nonprofit grant foundation inwards New York, all the same gives grants to researchers studying potential applications of eugenics.

The scientific discipline of the eugenics motility was motivated past times social forces. The persuasion of eugenics was firstly used to promote the legitimacy of the ruling cast inwards England inwards the belatedly 1800s, based on the notion of Social Darwinism. Sir Francis Galton posited that the ruling cast passed on its leadership qualities to its offspring; hence leadership stayed inwards the family. Its most extreme version was promoted past times Adolph Hitler inwards Mein Kampf, too eugenics became a work of Nazi ideology.

The eugenics motility inwards the US developed at a fourth dimension of social too economical difficulty. The influx of large numbers of immigrants into U.S. cities at the showtime of the twentieth century led to rapid urban too industrial growth, too increased contest for scarce jobs.

The resulting social problems led to fearfulness of the pitiful too the unusual too resulted inwards attempts to command these groups. Social ills were blamed on individuals with “bad genes” rather than on the construction of U.S. capitalistic society.

The study of criminality began with the so-called Chicago School of Criminology, which emerged largely every bit a termination of environmental too social conditions, including extensive unusual immigration, that materialized at the plow of the twentieth century inwards Chicago.

From 1860 to 1910, the city’s population doubled every x years, too past times the plow of the twentieth century the city’s population was over 2 1000000 inhabitants, largely every bit a termination of immigration from Europe. With novel immigrants inwards an overcrowded environment, official rates of offense too illness escalated. Thus, it is non surprising that efforts to cut offense too command the population occurred to a greater extent than oft than non inwards these areas.

Eugenicists studied theatre unit of measurement trees inwards monastic say to line traits that they persuasion were passed from 1 generation to the next. Mental tests designed to position immigrants with bad factor pools at 1 betoken designated to a greater extent than than 75 part of all Russian too Polish immigrants every bit “feebleminded”; few noted the marker of absurdity inwards such claims.

Well-known enquiry produced past times Richard Dugdale too Henry Goddard seemed to justify the practise of eugenics. Richard Dugdale was asked inwards 1874 past times the Prison Association inwards New York to inspect county jails; every bit a result, he became intrigued past times the high incidence of kinship alongside inmates.

He used his ain funds to conduct an extended investigation of 1 large kin grouping living inwards too about Ulster County, New York, whom he dubbed the “Jukes.” Dugdale eventually uncovered a theatre unit of measurement of some 709 descendants of a Dutch immigrant named Max.

In 1875, Dugdale reported his findings to the Prison Association too eventually wrote “The Jukes”: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Study inwards Crime, Pauperism, Disease, too Heredity. Dugdale located vi members of the “Jukes” theatre unit of measurement inwards a county jail too traced the genealogy of the theatre unit of measurement dorsum over 200 years.

In too so doing, he discovered that a large issue of the theatre unit of measurement members were poor, ill, too involved inwards prostitution too had illegitimate children; these activities supposedly toll the nation of New York millions of dollars per year.

Criminologists at nowadays assert that Dugdale’s study had a major conduct on on attitudes well-nigh the causes of offense at the time, fifty-fifty though it was based on unreliable information too was plagued past times value judgments too unsupported conclusions. Indeed, many translate the Jukes study every bit an elbow grease to convince lodge that poverty too offense are the inevitable results of bad stock.

In fact, Dugdale was a world wellness reformer who wrote inwards back upward of handling for physiological disorders to cure social ills, rather than promoting “solutions” such every bit sterilization or worse. Nevertheless, many used Dugdale’s findings to back upward a eugenics motility aimed at improving lodge through restrictions on immigration too forced sterilization.

The Kallikak theatre unit of measurement is a fictitious elevate given to some other theatre unit of measurement studied past times U.S. psychologist Henry Goddard. Goddard collected information for a longitudinal study that would contrast the descendants of 1 “upstanding man” too his upstanding Quaker married adult woman with the descendants of the same homo too an illicit “tavern wench.”

Kallikak is a pseudonym that comes from 2 Greek words, goodness (kallos) too bad (kakos). Goddard assigned this elevate to the theatre unit of measurement to aid illustrate the effects of “moronic breeding” (“moron” was a term used to clitoris people with a mental historic menstruation betwixt 8 too twelve years).

Previous to his study of the Kallikaks, Goddard too his assistants had worked with the staff at Ellis Island to position “morons” attempting to immigrate to the United States. Their operate at Ellis Island had supposedly given them sufficient expertise to assort mental capacity past times sight.

Goddard located the descendants of the “upstanding man” too the “tavern wench” (kakos) living inwards poverty too compared them to the “legitimate” descendants of the married span (kallos). As Goddard expected, the results of the study confirmed that the kakos line were much to a greater extent than probable to endure troubled or inwards problem than the kallos line.

Goddard published the results of his study inwards The Kallikak Family (1912), but inwards fact he had doctored photos of the kakos line to give the individuals a to a greater extent than depraved too sinister appearance, for example, past times icon nighttime circles nether the eyes of modest children.

The scientific discipline of eugenics was flawed inwards many ways. For example, the methods used to study ethnic too racial variation inwards diverse behavioral traits were poorly defined too hard to measure. Surveys filled out past times professionals working within institutions too advocates of the eugenics ideals contained falsified information too dishonest findings.

Other information were collected from schoolhouse principals of children too friends too acquaintances of adults. Often, the solely evidence presented past times eugenicists was anecdotal, drawing conclusions well-nigh entire ethnic too racial groups based on stories well-nigh a detail theatre unit of measurement or individual.

Key concepts of study were poorly too subjectively defined according to middle-class white standards that directly biased findings against some racial too ethnic groups. The master copy suggestion of eugenicists, that genes caused a broad make of behavioral problems inwards individuals, was illogical too simplistic. Other larger flat factors inwards lodge were ignored every bit of import for agreement human behavior.