The Nature Nurture Controversy : 20th Century Present

Eugenics was introduced by sir Francis galton who, interestingly enough, was a cousin of Charles Darwin. It began as a way to better the human race and stop negative genetic traits from continuing on generation to generation. Eugenics may have started out as a way to better humans but it became something much worse.

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.

The eugenics movement began in the 20th century by a man named Francis Galton. As the cousin of Charles Darwin, Galton believed that eugenics was a moral philosophy to improve humanity by encouraging the ablest and healthiest people to have more children (Carlson). This Galtonian ideal of eugenics is often thought of as positive eugenics. Eugenics can be defined as the outgrowth of human heredity aimed at "improving" the quality of the human stock (Allen and Bird). At the other end of the spectrum is what can be classified as negative eugenics and is presently in disrepute. Negative eugenics entails selective breeding in which the least able from the population is taken out of the reproduction pool to preserve humanity's best traits.

Eugenics is the social construction of the human race by controlling reproduction. “Reducing the number of unfit people the term refers to the effort to improve a human population by either encouraging the reproduction of desired traits or preventing the reproduction of undesirable one” (Bethel University). The eugenics movement in America support laws that enforce racial segregation at the level of marriage, family planning, sterilization of the poor, disabled and education about human reproduction. They are in favor of reproduction among those thought to be the most genetically fit with characteristics such as hardworking, intelligent and physically fit. On the other had the movement discourage reproduction of the unfit considered to have

In late nineteenth century on into the early twentieth century America was going through a change. A change may in society thought was for the best. Slavery was ending, and the upper class was worried about the estimated four million African Americans and immigrants introducing themselves in the economy with little or no education. These people were worried the overload in population would negatively affect the economy they have worked so hard to create. It was felt something had to be done to prevent the impregnation of “bad genes” into the American community. Eugenics seemed to offer that solution. Eugenics still implements their version of “population control” and/or “family-planning” in our society today and we don’t even know it. We play along and support without even knowing why we’re playing along or what we are supporting. To help open the eyes of the majority, we need to go back in time and show how the “Eugenics Movement” started. How the country we love so much, did not love us back and how the support of this movement is stronger today than when it started.

The eugenics movement in the United States beginning in the late 19th century and extending to the mid 20th century was a biosocial movement, which advocated procedures to improve the genetic composition of the American population. This essay will examine how eugenic ideologies influenced public and social policy in the United States between 1880 and 1950. The essay will first discuss the background of eugenics and how the eugenics movement gained momentum in the United States. Secondly, it will look at the various organisations associated with eugenics, that lobbied for legislations that aligned with their beliefs. Thirdly, it will consider how the advocating of the various eugenic organisations caused eugenic ideologies to become normalised in American society. Lastly, it will study the numerous policies established in different States that were formed based on eugenic principles.

Throughout history, the field of eugenics, a termed coined by Francis Galton in 1883, is believed to have played a significant role in improving the genetic quality of the human populace in the context of World War I through the set of beliefs and practices. Eugenics is the experiment of giving the more suitable and more desirable races “a better chance of prevailing” speedily over the less desirable (3). Eugenics employed theory in World War I as well as the aftermath of the war. After ww1 germany sought help from whatever they could find a...Many individuals believed that by having a stronger population they would be better prepared for war. Better breeding involved using the known scientific principles of heredity, which in turn explains why the field of eugenics was appealing simply by determining the physical, physiological, and mental traits rationally employed to improve social problems. The weaker individuals are unfavorable to the general

Eugenics began in the United States in the 20th century. Sir Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin introduced Eugenics to the world. He first used the word in the late 1800s. The term Eugenics comes from the greek roots for good and origin or good birth (Bouche 1). In America the social movement was led by Charles Davenport in the 1900’s. Eugenics was the social movement where people believed that by selective breeding and sterilization only good traits could be passed down to children. It was believed that by using these methods genetic features would greatly improve. That all undesirable traits would be gone and everyone would be “perfect”. Eugenics was used as a scientific way to get rid of social problems

in our culture. Eugenics was a vital part of several social movements in the twentieth century that

Elana Kopelman Research Paper Topic: Sir Francis Galton Eugenics, meaning “well-born”, is the study of improving a human population through controlled mating and preventing the inheritance of undesirable traits. Sir Francis Galton, 1822-1911, was the father of eugenics, who believed in the possibility of a “utopia” in which humans only possessed the most advantageous traits, such as intelligence and beauty. In fact, Galton approved of his cousin, Charles Darwin’s, theory of survival of the fittest and applied it to the human race, concluding that “unfit’” humans — such as those with mental illnesses, physical ailments, or learning disabilities — would be outbred and not survive. Though they were faulty, Galton’s ideas had major influence

1) Use the example of feral children to construct an argument in the nature versus nurture debate.

To begin, eugenics is ‘the science which deals with all influences that improve the inborn qualities of race; also with those that develop them to the utmost advantage’. Eugenicist Julian Huxley claimed that eugenics could alter our inborn qualities and the selection of different genetic types. To sell the idea of eugenics, it was presented as a method to manipulate one’s environment so that the individual would be regarded as the ‘highest’. Particularly, it was accepted in Nazi Germany since it would improve future generations . Ultimately, eugenics and sterilization was a predictable fix to the inferiority that weakened and diluted the ‘pure’ German race

For more than a century, researchers and psychologists, such as Sir Francis Galton, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud and many others, have been trying to understand how people are transformed by their environment. Researchers have mainly argued whether it is in fact our environment or rather genetics, our biological pre-wiring, which has influenced human behavior. This concept ultimately facilitated what is now known as the Nature versus Nurture debate. The Nature aspect states that human behavior is predetermined by our inherited genes or is the product of our innate behavior. The Nurture side of the disagreement postulates that human behavior stems from acquired attributes through individual learning and experiences. Correspondingly, the Object Relations Theory in psychoanalytic psychology supports the position that a person’s natural environment (i.e. family, peers, acquaintances, society) forms human development. The Object Relations theory stresses that it is the relationships between people, more specially family, often between mother and child, that crafts the human psyche.