For instance, Osborne maintains that:
An increase in births among the limited number of people recognized as carriers of superior genes would not directly affect the trend to any great extent, even if the difficulties of bringing about such an increase could be surmounted. [S]uch an increase would be vastly more important than a corresponding decrease in defectives through sterilization [because] this limited upper group is the one that has suffered most from a decline of the birth rate. (p. 389)
From a strictly pragmatic perspective, this type of social engineering might appear to be warranted (after all, no one wants “feebleminded parents”), but the realities behind eugenics thinking were far more insidious – and organized psychology played a major role in promoting this line of thinking in the United States and beyond (Lerner, 2006). As noted above, the combination of new events and ideas at the turn of the 20th century created a veritable “perfect storm” that made eugenics appear to be a viable solution to many of society’s problems. For example, Lerner (2006) emphasizes that, “Underlying the assumptions on which American eugenics rested were racism, bigotry, pseudo-science masquerading as science, the assumption that many immigrants and lower socio-economic level Americans could not be assimilated into U.S. society” (p. 183).
With the concept of America as a “shining city upon a hill” as the primary rationale in support, the mainstream psychological community was inspired by a “quasi-religious zeal to inflict eugenics on the people of the United States and, thereby, create a master race in America” (Lerner, 2006, p. 183). It should also be noted that a number of influential members of Western society during the first half of the 20th century were enthusiastic advocates of eugenics, including Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, Margaret Sanger and George Bernard Shaw (Smith, 2002). Today, it may be difficult for modern Americans to fully appreciate the impact that the proponents of eugenics thinking, including the mainstream psychology community, had on the national consciousness in this effort during this period in history. In fact, more than 30 states in the U.S. enacted laws prior to World War II that caused 60,000 Americans to be sterilized forcibly, and the eugenics movement in Germany resulted in physicians killing more than a quarter-million infants, children and adults with disabilities even before the outbreak of World War II (Smith, 2002).
Under the spell of eugenics, more than 30 states passed laws that resulted in 60,000 innocent Americans being forcibly sterilized. Matters were even worse in Germany: not only did the government sterilize hundreds of thousands of people, but the eugenics movement provided intellectual justification for the euthanasia Holocaust circa 1939-1945, during which German doctors murdered more than 250,000 disabled infants, children, and adults.
One of the more interesting aspects of eugenics thinking is the manner in which real human beings are pigeonholed according to various physical and intellectual attributes, with those who fail to measure up to arbitrary standards being regarded as “abnormal.” Indeed, until 1840 the word “normal” meant “perpendicular” rather than the current meaning of “the common type or standard” and it was not until 1855 that the modern definition of “norm” emerged, and the words “normality” and “normalcy” did not emerge until 1849 and 1857, respectively (Moddelmog, 2010). When these terms entered the psychological lexicon, there was also growing interest in applying new analytical models such as IQ tests, the mean and bell curve which were seized upon by the psychological community as being legitimate strategies for identifying normal and abnormal people. For instance, according to Moddelmog (2010), “Significantly, such mathematical tools helped to promote pseudo-sciences such as eugenics and sexology with their views that populations can be normed” (2010, p. 142).
Indeed, some of the giants’ shoulders upon which future psychologists would stand were among the most enthusiastic proponents of these new analytical methods. As Moddelmog explains, even Sigmund Freud together with other researchers such as Edward Carpenter, Magnus Hirchfield and Havelock Ellis used these analytical methods to develop a better understanding concerning sexual normality and abnormality, even going to far as assigning quantifiable metrics for various body parts as well as the physiological and psychological attributes of different categories of humans, including hetero- and homosexuals, sadists, masochists, sexual inverts, and those with fetishes (Moddelmog, 2010). In…
Some eugenicists also support "limits on immigration from non-European countries, a restriction on welfare benefits to poor families and bans on inter-racial marriage" or miscegenation. As an example of the radical thinking of some supporters of eugenics, Platt refers to Mr. Charles M. Goethe, the founder and sponsor of the Eugenics Society of Northern California and the Human Betterment Foundation, as stating in 1929 that Mexicans are "eugenically as
Eugenics Reflection on Past and Current Activities The negative feelings and perceptions many have about eugenics have been founded on previous evidence where the practice was found to have been used to limit the growth of some races. The racial prejudices are shocking in their ferocity. The initial step towards evil is the ridicule or vilification of the victim. Many individuals have been objectified and described as waste or animals, making
Currently, in the health care setting, patients are protected from involuntary acts of eugenics through laws that require doctor's to get the patient's full consent for all procedures done. Further, if a doctor fails to get such consent, they can be held liable under the malpractice laws of torts. Eugenics and Immigration Eugenics has also played a historical role in immigration and immigration reform during the twentieth century. Staring with the passage
Rogow states that "it is noteworthy that the pattern of corruption of schools and destruction of Christian schools were far less successful in rural districts where people knew and trusted one another." (Samuels and Thompson, 1949; as cited in Rogow, nd) CONCLUSION This lesson in history is clear and should clearly grasped within the legal, medical and educational professions with an acknowledgement among these individuals that it is they, and their
There are too many factors that cannot be controlled. Children may develop inferiority feelings regarding their own specialness due to the choices of their parents. Many people who may be able to make contributions to society will more than likely be aborted. There is also the possibility that just because someone has a genetic trait for a malady, they may not even manifest such a condition. Additionally, the lack
Sociology of American Eugenics and Nativism in Advertising The study of eugenics as a valid science during the early 20th century American society are based upon two prevalent beliefs, which is the belief in " the perfectibility of the human species and a growing faith in science as the most dependable and useful form of knowledge (Microsoft Encarta 2002). Eugenics as popular science during the 20th century emerged due to the