Law and Eugenics

Two part essay:

1. Modern mental hospitals grew up mainly after 1800, when they inspired almost utopian hopes about curing this terrible scourge with gentle, humane treatment. Yet historical writings on the asylum movement, including those we have read, offer images of failure and of terrible cruelty including painful or dehumanizing interventions such as electric shocks, malarial treatment, lobotomy, and eugenic sterilization. Based on the books by Scull and Stern, and taking account the patterns of patient life in these institutions, how do you explain this seeming cruelty? Do Scull and Stern agree on the causes and character of abuses at asylums?

2. In what ways did claims for a link of mental illness and feeble mindedness to race and ethnicity promote the rise of eugenics? You should be sure to make clear the relation of your answer to arguments made by the historical works we have studied.

Rules:

1. make your arguments mainly on the basis of books by Scull and Stern. There is no need to footnote these, but when you quote or refer to something specific from one of them, you should put the page number in (parentheses).

2. Your answers should be grounded in scholarly (and original) sources, not in ungrounded opinions. You are welcome to read anything you want as you think about these questions.

3. You can try to find primary sources from that time period.

4. avoid repetition and to make every word count

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