Eugenics Impact On Society

Eugenics Eugenics, the practice of “improving” the human race by selective breeding, is an idea that gained widespread dominance during the late 19th century. In 1883, English scientist Francis Galton (1822–1911) coined the word eugenics, from the Greek word eugenes, meaning “well-born” or “hereditarily endowed with noble qualities” (Door, 2018). As the father of eugenics, Galton crafted the concept based on Gregor Mendel’s laws of heredity and created a positive and negative eugenics system. Worldwide, eugenicists and scientists believe that gaining control over heredity allows for the creation of perfect human beings and the elimination of social “ills”. Eugenics had a significant impact on society and introduced genetic science to the mainstream.
Scientists assumed that even such complex human traits as intelligence and behavior behaved as simple genetic “unit characters,” such as height or color in peas (Door, 2018). As a result, scientists created a way to test eugenic worth, an individual’s number of desirable traits. Eugenic worth was determined by two factors: IQ and a study of the individual’s family pedigree. Positive traits usually include high IQ, good physical and mental health, success, and being Caucasian/having European heritage. Negative traits usually include having a criminal background, low IQ, poor mental health, disabilities, and even certain religions and ethnic backgrounds. Following Galton’s studies and discoveries, governments started to develop laws and methods to create the ideal breed of humans. There are two main ways of enforcing reproduction policies: positive eugenics and negative eugenics. Positive eugenics was based on encouraging reproduction in people who had higher eugenic worth. Governments used tactics such as paid childcare, targeted advertisements, and lower taxes to promote this new