Sterilization for human betterment : a summary of results of 6,000 operations in California, 1909-1929 / by E.S. Gosney ... and Paul Popenoe.

  • Gosney, E. S. (Ezra Seymour), 1855-1942.
Date:
1929
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Sterilization for human betterment : a summary of results of 6,000 operations in California, 1909-1929 / by E.S. Gosney ... and Paul Popenoe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/232 (page VI)
    INTRODUCTION Statistics of the mentally disabled are largely estimates, but conservatively speaking, 4% or 4,800,000, of the people of the United States will at some time in their lives need the care of an institution for mental diseases because of some form of insanity. Of the feeble-minded it is esti¬ mated that У2 of 1%, or 600,000, of the people of the United States have a mentality below seven years and need constant supervision and assistance either at home or in an institution. Above this class it is estimated that 1%, or 1,200,- 000, have a mentality of from seven to nine years. This class, with a few exceptions, cannot get along alone ; it must have more or less constant super¬ vision. Above this comes the more dangerous, eugen- ically speaking, moron class with its many prob¬ lems. Los Angeles and other cities have recently made a survey of the children in the public schools, and find that in the first eight grades there are more than 4% of children with less than three-fourths of normal intellect. If we add the % of 1% in the first class, and assume that this estimate holds true for the adults, we can con¬ servatively estimate that practically 5% or 6,000,- 000 of the inhabitants of the United States, have an intellectuality which is less than 75% of that of the average man. [vi]