...Outline + References Sociology 210 Research Paper Draft Conflict Theory and the Evolution of Eugenics in America during the 20th Century. I intend to present a purely informative paper on the sociological perspective of eugenics during the past century in the United States through Conflict Theory. A linear history of causality, implementation, and significance. 1. Conflict Theory Perspective a. Margaret Sanger b. Plato’s Republic c. Negative Eugenics d. Sterilization e. Planned Parenthood Federation of America f. Legislation g. Economic Implications Early 1900’s American political movement under Margaret Sanger 1. advocate the control over individual rights to reproduction 2. purpose of societal advantage 3. rights governed by the state and supported by a public majority 4. originally designed as a method of public oppression and controlled persecution. 5. Sanger an outspoken advocate for Eugenics a. racial dominance, class restraint, and a member of the American Eugenic Political Party, opened a family planning and birth control clinic. 6. Established first Abortion Clinics in NY b. On October 16, 1916, a member of the Eugenic party movement opened a then privately funded business, now partly funded by the public, in New York City. 7. clinic’s policy on providing pregnancy termination to the impoverished and uneducated. 8. The Birth Control Review and Birth Control...
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...Hassan 1 Hussein Hassan Mr. Horn AP Seminar February 2 2015 The Perfect Human: The Flaws in Modern Eugenics With global technologies rapidly advancing, specifically those based in the field of genetics, one might wonder where humanity is headed in terms of their offspring. The answer? Modern eugenics. Francis Galton's eugenics, centered around forced sterilization and selective breeding to eliminate undesirable traits and foster the spread of more advantageous ones (Galton), is dead. However, the idea of focusing on one’s inherited genes to eliminate passed down diseases is alive and well, albeit in a more “modern” fashion. Is modern eugenics the right way of the future for humanity? To what extent should modern eugenics be viable? Before ambitious genetic projects had begun, such as the Human Genome Project which mapped out the entirety of the human genome (Genome.gov), the only way to tamper with an individual’s genes was through their parents. Gregor Mendel earned the moniker “The Father of Genetics” because of his experiments involving the breeding of plants in the mid 19th century (Biography.com). However, modern eugenics focuses on the genes of child more than the parents through abortions and the genetic altering of the embryo to achieve the desired results. This can be achieved through a process called genetic screening, which observes an embryo’s chromosomes for any lapses or breaks (Galloway a). Embryo’s that show signs of a genetic disorders...
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...If someone asked 100 average Americans about eugenics, the overwhelming majority of them would likely announce that they had a negative impression of the concept, rightly or wrongly. Over the last century, eugenics — which is defined as good genetics — has had a checkered history due to how different governments and political leaders have tried to implement the theory. These failed eugenics attempts have had severe socio-political consequences on countries around the world. Within this paper, three eugenics-based policies will be addressed in greater detail. These policies are: birth control, race-based sterilization policies and genocide (on varying scales). Birth control is a relatively recent phenomenon — primarily entering the national agenda after the Industrial Revolution as more and more families left the countryside and moved into urban areas. Prior to this demographic shift, birth control had only been practiced by a handful of people and the methods that were utilized (such as abstinence and withdrawal) had a relatively high failure rate (A brief history of, 2014). Following the Industrial Revolution, birth control was introduced at different rates in different countries — driven by demographic differences, as well as each country's individual religious beliefs and preferences. Certain religions have been much more adamantly opposed to birth control than others. Interestingly, the United States was one of the slowest countries to embrace birth control. In fact, a...
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...Eugenics literally means “good birth,” and it seeks to improve the human gene pool. In this modern age, many people are no longer afraid of eugenics. Up to now, reports of this research have highlighted its potential for creating gametes for infertile men and women. Taking a peek into the future, an Australian bioethicist, Robert Sparrow, writes in the Journal of Medical Ethics that it will be possible to use stem cell technology to breed better humans in labs. He says that it is not too early to launch a debate about what he calls “in vitro eugenics.” Dr Sparrow set himself the task of describing the opportunities and obstacles that this technology would face, rather than a thorough ethical critique. However, he does mention a number of ethical considerations. On the plus side, it would be possible to eugenically enhance people without asking them to choose particular partners or to gestate numerous experimental embryos. On the minus side, the people who result from the procedure would be “orphaned at conception”. With each generation they would be more distant from their forebears. This paper will seek to address some ethical considerations raised by the above article. There is no doubt that this technology could be extremely useful for preventing diseases such as cancer and others before we are even born. But, with this also comes the ability to give children genes before their born that will give them talent to run faster, jump higher, use more of their brain which will...
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...perverts, moral degenerates, and epileptic persons were considered for sterilization. The thought was that by sterilizing the ‘unfit’ and the minorities, the worst genes would be eliminated, therefore only the best genes would reproduce. Focusing my research between the years 1869-1974, this paper will investigate the birth of eugenics and Michigan's adoption of the science, which resulted in the massive human rights violations of the states 3,786 residents. This paper will provide the answer to, why was eugenic sterilization such a commonly accepted science in Michigan during the early 1900’s until the sterilization law was repealed in the 1974? My research will show that eugenic sterilization, although heinous in nature, was justified by Michigan scientists and residents a like by claims of a more humane society and was thought to be the saving grace of mankind. Eugenics is a word derived from Greek meaning "well born" and was formulated by British scientist Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, after an 1869 study which stemmed from his cousins idea of better evolution. This work concluded that heredity was the sole factor in a persons make up—all things good and bad, anywhere from intellect to deformations. The definition of eugenics given by Galton was "The study of the agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations either physically or mentally." With concerns of how our world would end up if reproduction remained the...
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...Amara Rivera Given the History of Medical Apartheid in the U.S., African-Americans have tended to be iatrophobic. Should African-Americans continue to participate in medical research and trust their doctors today? Would Harriet Washington and Tim Wise be in support of your argument? QUESTION 2: Ebola Watch this Press TV video: The Debate: Ebola Man-made (pt1) (11 mins) Based on his arguments, is Dr. Short a conspiracy theorist? Comment on the validity of Dr. Short’s arguments and examples given the arguments provided by Washington in Medical Apartheid in the Epilogue of the book and in the rest of the text. Use the relevant examples and ideas Washington uses to draw connections between medical apartheid practiced on Blacks in the U.S and Blacks in Africa from her book. QUESTION 3: Scientific Racism and Eugenics The "science" of eugenics proposed that human perfection could be developed through selective breeding and sterilization. It claimed to improve the genetic features of human populations based on the idea that it is possible to distinguish between superior and inferior elements of society. How has the eugenics movement played a negative role in African-American history? Will advances in technology which allow people select traits of their newborns before birth have a positive and/or negative impact...
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...treatment should be awarded the legal right to choose the sex of their child. Good afternoon everyone our debate topic today is whether or not couples wishing to undergo IVF treatment should be awarded the legal right to choose the sex of their child. I’m Melinda and along with Angelique and Melissa we will be presenting the affirmative argument and the negative argument will be presented by Kristen, Judy and Deb. Sex selection, also known as gender selection, has attracted great interest and controversy over the years. Gender selection has been associated with a number of ethical, moral, social and legal issues. Sex selection may be performed for medical reasons to avoid sex-linked diseases or for parental preference. The topics I will be covering include eugenics, beneficence, utilitarianism and pre-genetic screening in regards to sex linked diseases. Eugenics can be defined as the study or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species. In the context of IVF treatment positive eugenics encourages reproduction by implantation of healthy embryos with inheritable desirable traits and negative eugenics seeks to identify and dispose of embryos found to carry undesirable inheritable traits. Utilitarianism in the context of IVF sex selection and genetic screening is defined by the principle of utility which seeks to judge moral rules, actions and behaviours on the basis of their consequences. Where an action produces the best possible outcome; that...
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...Feb. 11, 2016 Ethnic Studies Week 6 *Paper due in 3 weeks Immigration, Eugenics, White Ethnics, Mexican Americans U.S. Immigration Legislation (Tyner, 60) -1907: U.S. Japan Gentlemen’s Agreement -Denied entry to Japanese laborers -1917: Immigration Act -Denied entry to illiterates (meant to exclude Southern and Eastern Europeans) -Designated an “Asiatic Barred Zone” denying entry to people from the lands between India, Australia, and Japan 1924: Johnson-Reed Act (National Origins Act) -Promoted by the American eugenics movement -Designated to maintain national purity and security -America should remain a white, Protestant nation -All others must either assimilate or be relegated to a permanently inferior status. *Eugenics want to keep white/Anglo-Saxon -Product of scientific racism - Applied to Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory to modern, industrial civilization (Social Darwinism) -1890s: popular with educated Americans concerned about an imminent “race suicide” due to low Anglo-Saxon birth rates -1903: American Breeders Association founded -1906: its Committee on Eugenics formed “to emphasize the value of superior blood and the menace to society of inferior blood.” -1908: first Eugenics Society (England) -1909: first professorial Chair in Eugenics established (University College, London) -By 1910: emergent international eugenics movement proclaimed itself “the science of human improvement through programs of controlled...
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...relation between criminological theory and the criminal justice system, the research question I will answer in this paper is: how have theories on the original of criminal behavior influenced the criminal justice system in the United States? Considering the scope of this paper, it would be impossible to look at every single theory on the origin of criminal behavior, therefore I will focus solely on the classical school, the positivist school and social disorganization theory. These theories reflect different aspects of criminological theory, the classical school focusing on the crime itself, the positivist school on the criminal and disorganization theory on the environment. Because of the extensiveness of these theories, I will only discuss the individuals considered to be the founders of these theories: Beccaria, Lombroso, and Shaw and McKay...
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...Leadership and Management Collage of Staten Island Nursing 411 Introduction This paper is based on leadership and the management styles that I chose to do research on. I will apply a leadership management theory I think best represented my leader. It will comprise of an observation part; that deals with who this leader is, what they are famous about, who did they lead, inspire, entices or irritate and how people react to their leadership. The theory part will describe the leadership and management theory that best represented them and the Analysis part will describe their actions, beliefs, how effective their goals were, and was this the best leadership style for the group or era they were practicing in. Observation: Margaret Sander born in 1879 is the famous for her role in getting contraceptives for the poor in an era where only the “affluent and the educated in American society were the only ones to have reliable contraception” (Allender et al 2010, p. 32).She was inspired individually after her own mother died in her 18th pregnancies at the age of 48years battled Tuberculosis, but her “pregnancy contributed to her both contracting the disease and eventually succumbed to it”(Allender 2010, p.32). She then went to White Plain Hospital as a nurse probationer, and later became a visiting nurse. She is a social reformer, sex educator, and a nurse. The issue of contraception was...
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...Agar explains, that when a human embryo is modified or “enhanced”, it could disrupt genes or characteristics that are necessary for survival. While human enhancement could very much help society by creating smarter, more durable humans, the outcomes are so wildly unpredictable and dangerous that it should not be further tested or developed. “Nature News,” a weekly science journal states that “Genome editing in human embryos using current technologies could have unpredictable effects on future generations. This makes it dangerous and ethically unacceptable.” (Edward Lanphier et al.) This further proves how genome editing cannot be used. This is very important because even if scientists are able to create a perfect generation without any negative...
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...Walter Glannon: Genes, Embryos, and Future People Bioethics, 02699702, Jul98, Vol. 12, Issue 3 ABSTRACT: Testing embryonic cells for genetic abnormalities gives us the capacity to predict whether and to what extent people will exist with disease and disability. Moreover, the freezing of embryos for long periods of time enables us to alter the length of a normal human lifespan. After highlighting the shortcomings of somatic-cell gene therapy and germ-line genetic alteration, I argue that the testing and selective termination of genetically defective embryos is the only medically and morally defensible way to prevent the existence of people with severe disability, pain and suffering that make their lives not worth living for them on the whole. In addition, I consider the possible harmful effects on children born from frozen embryos after the deaths of their biological parents, or when their parents are at an advanced age. I also explore whether embryos have moral status and whether the prospects for disease-preventing genetic alteration can justify long-term cryopreservation of embryos. INTRODUCTION Recent advances in reproductive biotechnology have given us the ability to intervene in the process of human biological development from embryos to people. One type of intervention is the testing of embryos for genetic defects that cause disease, which enables us to choose between allowing these embryos to result in disabled people or selectively terminating...
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...| | When compared to other industrialised countries the US has one of the most significant homicide rates and crime rates. According to statistics published by the UN in 2010 the probability of being of a homicide victim is more than five times greater in the US than in the Netherlands and close to three times greater than in Canada. However in spite of these statistics and contrary to general public perception the United States have experienced a continued decline of its crime rates since the second half of the 1990’s. In 2010 there were 5.4 homicides per 100,000 persons compared to 9.8 in 1991 at its peak according to the US Bureau of Statistics (2004). Similarly, other statistics[1] published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Justice statistics[2] have highlighted that violent crimes and property crimes rates have gradually declined, on average, in the US from their height in the beginning of the 1990’s to a low point in 2004 and continues to further decrease in spite of the current economic crisis. One would have expected that the recession would have ended this virtuous circle but instead “crimes of violence began going down in 2007, falling 0.7 percent that year and then an additional 1.9 percent in 2008. The trend accelerated [in 2009] with a 5.5 percent reduction in overall crime ...” (Jerry Markon, The Washington Post...
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...edu/essays/v10n6index.html. Abstract I review the book IQ and the Wealth of Nations, written by Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen. I critique the authors’ major assertion that a significant part of the gap between rich and poor countries is due to differences in national intelligence. The authors claim that they have evidence that differences in national IQ account for substantial variation in per capita income and growth of a nation. This essay review debunks their assumptions that intellectual and income differences between nations stem from genetic differences. This critique provides an extended review of the research literature that argues against these assumptions and presents a different picture from that presented by Lynn and Vanhanen about the concept of intelligence, what IQ measures and does not measure. The essay exposes the racist, sexist, and antihuman nature of the research tradition in which the authors anchored their studies and the deep methodological flaws and theoretical assumptions that appear in their book. The low standards of scholarship evident in the book render it largely irrelevant for modern science. This essay specifically deals with the IQ value of Ethiopian immigrants that came from Israel, used by the authors as representing the National Education Review Vol. 10 No. 6 http://edrev.asu.edu 2 Average IQ of Ethiopia. Most of these immigrants had rudimentary knowledge of literacy, and experienced an abrupt...
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...Huntington's: The Anticipation that Kills After doing research on the effects of the disorder Huntington’s disease, it is easy to understand what a disease like Huntington’s will do to an individual way of life. Imagine being thirty years old with a good job, a loving spouse, maybe a couple of kids and an all-around pretty good life. Then imagine one day your boss writes you up and sends you home because he/she suspects you of being intoxicated. A person in this situation could, in months and years to come, learn from a simple blood test that he/she is the victim of a genetic disorder called Huntington’s disease. The ramifications of this illness are endless and affect not only the individual with the disorder but entire families and communities as well. At this time there is no cure or even any significantly effective treatment. However, as with many genetic disorders, research is being done in in this day in age that may promise to one day lead us to such treatment or cure. Huntington’s disease is a neurodegenerative or genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and some cognitive functions, typically becoming noticeable in middle age. It is much more common in people of Western Europe descent than in those from Asia or Africa. The disease is caused by dominant mutation on either of the two copies of a specific gene, located on chromosome 4. The Huntington gene normally provides the genetic code for a protein that is also called Huntingtin. The mutation of the Huntingtin...
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