Can I read Breeding Contempt : The History of Coerced Sterilization in the United States on EtoBox?

Breeding Contempt : The History of Coerced Sterilization in the United States by Professor Mark Largent is a book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Breeding Contempt : The History of Coerced Sterilization in the United States about?

Most closely associated with the Nazis and World War II atrocities, eugenics is sometimes described as a government-orchestrated breeding program, other times as a pseudo-science, and often as the first step leading to genocide. Less frequently it is recognized as a movement having links to theUnited States. But eugenics does have a history in this country, and Mark A. Largent tells that story by exploring one of its most disturbing aspects, the compulsory sterilization of more than 64,000 Americans. The book begins in the mid-nineteenth century, when American medical doctors began advocating the sterilization of citizens they deemed degenerate. By the turn of the twentieth century, physicians, biologists, and social scientists championed the cause, and lawmakers in two-thirds of the United States enacted laws that required the sterilization of various criminals, mental health patients, epileptics, and syphilitics. The movement lasted well into the latter half of the century, and Largent shows how even today the sentiments that motivated coerced sterilization persist as certain public figures advocate compulsory birth control—such as progesterone shots for male criminals or female

Author

Professor Mark Largent

Publisher

New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press

Published

2008

Language

EN

ISBN

9780813577562

Subjects

History, Medical, Social Science

Rating

4.2 / 5 (9 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-13