The Importance Of Eugenics In Modern Science

I support the guidelines outlined by Kitcher for the use of genetic information because of their responsible and ethical nature. I believe that future generations will benefit as a direct consequence of these guidelines. I shall begin by defining eugenics as the study of human genetics to improve inherited characteristics of the human race by the means of controlled selective breeding.

Lack of scientific knowledge about genetic biology was the primary reason why eugenics movement died out towards the latter half of the 20th century. It was concluded that there was actually no significant way to identify “fit” families. The eugenics movement unjustly called people unfit without reason. The primary downside to the eugenics movement in the United States is that scientist paid too much attention to the genetic correlations between class and genes, but rarely looked at the environmental factors that affected the class. Essentially what the eugenics movement did was called families that were alcoholics and thieves due to your genes. An argument could have been very easily made that these families were

The American eugenics movement is characterized by the implementation of sterilization laws in over 30 states that led to over 60,000 sterilizations of those deemed “disabled” by the regulating entities. This movement began in the early 1900’s and many argue that this movement was the base for eugenics programs all over the world, including the infamous eugenics movement in Germany. Proponents of this program believed that the

If I had been asked when eugenics began in practice, I would likely have pointed at Nazi era Europe prior to seeing Edwin Black’s presentation. However, at the conclusion of his speech I found myself shaken by the fact that eugenics was in practice in California before and during Nazi power. I had thought of California as, in the past, a brave frontier, and at present, a shining beacon of

Eugenics is a taboo science, but back in 1883 it was a modern advancement, discovered by Francis Galton (Carlson). Galton’s original mission was to improve humanity by encouraging the best and healthiest couples to simply have more children; Galton created positive eugenics (Carlson). However, with the positive comes the inevitable negative. Negative Eugenics was more set on preventing the least able from reproducing, in order to preserve the fitness of the

History throughout the United States has multiple positive and negative attributions that reflect onto today’s society. One circumstance that has been partially neglected was the eugenics movement in America; the notion of eugenics occurring in the United States is infrequently brought up today. According to Dr. Laura Rivard, the average person most likely does not even know what eugenics is. An English intellectual named of Francis Galton is responsible for starting this movement. Eugenics can briefly be defined as exploiting the fundamentals of genetics and heredity for the benefit of superiorizing the human race.

Future eugenicists can extort their knowledge and use it to their advantage. Eugenics is an interesting subject that is co-dependent on society; the future holds great possibilities for acknowledgment in this field of science.

In this paper I will be analyzing the social construct of deviance and the topic of Eugenics theoretically, and how this practice transitioned from being deviant back in the early 20th century to a modern technology that can be used to help parents have healthy children. I will use different scholarly sources to compare and review different positions in the theories used as they relate to the topic at hand.

Through studies such as the Human Genome Project, researchers have discovered more information than ever about genes, chromosomes, DNA, and specific medical conditions and diseases. Although, we cannot hold modern medicine responsible for discovering biological markers and treatments for certain medical conditions, historical events such as Buck v. Bell need to be brought into the classroom for students to understand how linking complex human traits and behaviors to heredity is erroneous and may lead to unjustifiable social policies. Human traits and behaviors are more so based upon an individual’s environment rather than the genes an individual inherits. Many historians worry that contemporary economic and social problems can give rise to a new eugenics movement. Given the constant struggle over limited resources, we can expect eugenic proposals to resurface overtime. The story of Carrie Buck provides a point of departure for discussing and understanding multifaceted issues including the understanding of linking traits to certain behavioral aspects, the understanding of the legislative system and court rulings and understanding what decisions and when these decisions should be justifiable to people within society. Providing education on such controversial and political issues to future generations could

Because of this those who did not belong to the white race were forced to be sterilized even if some of them did not have any of what eugenicists considered “bad” traits. The only ones who were seen as “fit” to reproduce were they middle class people belonging to the white race. They were the only one encouraged to have big families. Most of the “undesirable” traits came from the uneducated, poor, and minority populations. Eugenicists tried to find every small thing that would make someone unfit to reproduce, they even made up reasons or used reasons that did not make sense in order to sterilize people. Civil rights were violated because those who were deemed “unfit” to reproduce were forced to be sterilized they did not have a say in the matter. Sterilization laws were passed in order to force people to be sterilized, the first sterilization law was enacted in Virginia in 1905 and 29 other states followed. “By 1924, approximately 3,000 people had been involuntarily sterilized in America” (Lombardo 1). Carrie Bucks’ civil rights were violated in the Buck v bell case she was forced to be sterilized because of traits of “feeblemindedness” which is not a medical term. Harry Laughlin who never met Carrie or her mother sent a written letter with “evidence” on her feeblemindedness. Evidence today shows that

The idea of eugenics was first introduced by Sir Francis Galton, who believed that the breeding of two wealthy and successful members of society would produce a child superior to that of two members of the lower class. This assumption was based on the idea that genes for success or particular excellence were present in our DNA, which is passed from parent to child. Despite the blatant lack of research, two men, Georges Vacher de Lapouge and Jon Alfred Mjoen, played to the white supremacists' desires and claimed that white genes were inherently superior to other races, and with this base formed the first eugenics society. The American Eugenics Movement attempted to unethically obliterate the rising tide of lower classes by immorally

The process of Eugenics did not really come about in America until the 1900s, when it was introduced by Charles Davenport and Harry Laughlin. Davenport was a very prominent biologist and Laughlin was a former principal that was interested in breeding. Eugenics was accepted because the majority of society believes that it would prompt a more peaceful and powerful future. Scientifically, many people believed that Eugenics was beneficial because it was viewed as a way to improve humanity. There was a fear that the lesser than people would have more children than the more intelligent or adequate people, this fear was temporarily put to rest by eugenics. There were two forms of eugenics, which can be broken down into positive and negative. The positive aspect was to promote adequate people to try to have more

According to Merriam-Webster.com, eugenics is defined as “the theory dealing with the production or treatment of a fine, healthy race.” Despite this seemingly innocent representation, eugenics is an extremely controversial science. Some even debate whether or not it is worthy of the label of science, or if it’s just a form of intellectual racism. Nevertheless, eugenics was greatly embraced and was behind a scientific and social revolution during the late 19th century through the Second World War. This essay will explore the topic of eugenics which has disappeared from today’s science textbooks. This includes a thorough history of the origin of eugenics, the people behind its movement, as well as its application in society.

The definition of eugenics is to breed out undesirable traits. Based off of Austrian scientist Gregor Mendel’s studies, eugenics is accomplished through selective breeding. Dominant traits would replace recessive traits and the law of dominance would be ineffective. Originally, the idea behind eugenics was not completely bad. Over time though, problems surrounding it have been found. Dealing with positive and negative traits, questions have been asked about what constitutes as a negative trait and who decides which traits are

The roots of eugenics can be traced back to Britain in the early 1880’s when Sir Francis Galton generated the term from the Greek word for “well-born”. He defined eugenics as the science of improving stock, whether human or animal. According to the American Eugenics Movement, today’s study of eugenics has many similarities to studies done in the early 20th century. Back then, “Eugenics was, quite literally, an effort to breed better human beings – by encouraging the reproduction of people with "good" genes and discouraging those with "bad" genes.” (www.eugenicsarchive.org) According to Merriam-Webster, the modern day definition of eugenics is, a science that deals with the improvement (as by control of human mating) of