Although the mentally ill were far less likely to have sex, eugenicists had rationalized the notion that they were breeding prolifically by proposing that it was the unsupervised ones that were doing so
The eugenics movement had established the paradigm that mental illness was genetically inherited. But if proving that insanity was inherited was difficult, eugenicists had an even harder time supporting the notion that the mentally ill were prolific breeders. Even on the face of it, this seemed a dubious proposition. Schizophrenics, almost by definition, are socially withdrawn, which is just what researchers found time and again. A 1921 study determined that nearly two-thirds of males diagnosed as schizophrenic had never even had sex with a woman. Other studies found that the âinsaneâ were less likely to be married than the general population and had mortality rates five to fifteen times those of the normal population. Even psychiatrist Paul Popenoe reluctantly concluded that the insane didnât marry in great numbers and that they had so few children they didnât reproduce their own numbers. They were worse breeders, in fact, than Harvard graduates and Mayflower descendants
However, such findings didnât temper eugenicistsâ call for sterilizing the mentally ill . Eugenicists simply lumped them together with a larger group of misfitsâthe poor, criminals, and mentally handicappedâsaid to be siring offspring at great rates. Popenoe argued that while the mentally ill in asylumsâwhose lives had been the subject of the research studiesâmay not have been good at breeding, those in the community were making up for their shortcomings. âMentally diseased persons who do not get into state institutions and who have not been legally labeled insane seem to have families quite as large as the average, if not larger,â he said. âThey are spreading defective germ plasm continually through the sound part of the community, and many of them can be pointed out with probable accuracy through a study of their ancestry.â What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves.
References
- Whitaker, Robert. (2002). Mad in America Chapter 3. UNFIT TO BREED (p. 84). New York, NY: Basic Books.
Metadata
Type:đ´ Tags: Biology / Psychiatry / History Status:âď¸