Feeble-minded

Carrie Buck was an institutionalized patient at the State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble Minded. The superintendent of her mental institution was ordered to perform a salpingectomy in her in order to make her sterile. Carrie challenged the local statute that allowed for the sterilization of the feeble minded and filed a suit against her superintendent. Buck argued that her rights as a U.S. citizen were being infringed upon, specifically her Fourteenth Amendment rights. The local statue was upheld in the county court, the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, and the U.S Supreme Court (1). This was one of the first times that eugenics, or the artificial selection for humans, was challenged. This case is controversial today with our present values…

According to Schmalleger (2016), the root causes of criminality were largely passed from generation to generation in the form of bad genes” (p.50). Thus, the idea that sterilization would be best for the evolution of mankind. With the focus of discontinuing of mentally ill people in order to better humanity. The case regarding Buck V. Bell began the controversy with eugenics. Buck V. Bell was the case that determined it best to sterilize Ms. Buck and her family for the sole purpose of them…

for the Iowa Institution for Feeble-Minded Children. “Backward and Mentally Deficient Children” was written for educators who have “mentally deficient” children in their classroom. In this piece, he focuses primarily on what should be done for the “backward and mentally deficient children” (or what people in modern times would call autistic children) and provides some insight on how the children who were deemed mentally deficient was treated. Historically, impairment is seen as something…

Office funded studies of bad gene and develop policies that called for sterilization of mentally handicapped women to prevent them from have offspring. The Eugenics Record Office compiled family genealogies and conduct eugenical studies that listed undesirable traits and identify those who are eugenically unfit. Indiana became the first states to allow compulsory sterilization of institutionalized patient when the eugenic movement began. The legality of eugenic sterilization was challenged in…

case was a very sensitive topic during its time due to the concept that feeble-minded individuals should not pass on their genes. It led to many controversies: some agreed with it and others believed it was unethical, however, one must fully understand the reasons why the Supreme Court went through with the decision. There are several cultural values that support the Supreme Court’s decision including prevention, balance, and responsibility. The first value which appears to be the most prominent…

Washington State had a sterilization program that started in the 1900s. In 1909, a sterilization law was passed that allowed a person to be sterilized if they were involved in pedophilia with a female under age ten, or were guilty of rape. Under this law, sterilization was rare. However, this changed with a new and more general law passed in 1921. This law allowed sterilizations to be performed on people who were considered “feeble minded, insane, epileptic, habitual criminals, moral…

and the feeble-minded though she was neither epileptic nor mentally disabled, eight judges ruled that the state of Virginia had the right to sterilize her, her mother Emma and as well as her Daughter Vivienne (Democracy Now). Sterilization blocks…

The exclusion of immigrants based on their mental capabilities came into effect when the United States passed the Immigration act of 1882, which primary dealt with the exclusion of mentally ill immigrants. However, in 1907 the United States added imbeciles, feeble-minded persons, and even those whose ability to earn may be affected by their mental state, to the list of those excluded from migrating to the United States. This exclusion based on mental capability was again justified with stating…

jail or penal institution could be excluded from voting. This places those with a mental illness and criminals “in the same boat.” In 1881, Kansas Sess. Law 74 establishes the need for asylums for the education of the feeble-minded an imbecile youth. These youth, were considered not to be educable in the “common schools.” In essence “out of sight – out of mind.” We must institutionalize the crazy people so they don’t infect our “normal youth.” In 1913, Kansas passed a law that prevented…

In Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” there are three distinct types of conflict that directly relate to the overall theme. Firstly, there are two forms of external conflict between the perfect, happy, and utopian society of Omelas and the dirty, secluded, feeble-minded child trapped far below the stunning city. Secondly, internal conflict arises when the exuberant, merry citizens eventually realize that their joy comes at a horrifying and expensive price. The internal…