Criminology - U2 - AC4.1 - Genetic Crime Control Policies

Eugenics

Eugenics is the selection of desired heritable characteristics in order to improve future generations. The term was coined in 1883 by Francis Galton, who advocated for a system that would allow "the more suitable races or strains of blood a better chance of prevailing speedily over the less suitable."

Nazi Germany Eugenics

Hitler and the Nazi party’s policy of the “Master Race” is history’s most extreme case of eugenics policy. These policies aimed to purify the Aryan Race by eliminating those they deemed unfit (degenerates) and eliminating "impure" genes from society.

Eugenics Policy of Persecution

The Nazi eugenics policies involved sterilisation, euthanasia, and the persecution of "undesirable" groups. 400,000 people were sterilised, 100,000 mentally and physically disabled Germans were killed, and many were sent to concentration camps, including homosexuals, criminals, and gypsies.

The Holocaust

The Holocaust was Hitler's ultimate solution to eugenics, a state-authorised genocide aimed at eliminating any "deviants" through concentration camps and mass killings. 6 million Jewish people and 1.5 million Roma and Gypsies were murdered as part of this policy.

Eugenics in Britain

Eugenics did not have a significant impact on UK policy development due to its unethical nature. There were also arguments against eugenics policies on the basis of human rights, stressing that individuals should have control over their own bodies, regardless of criminality or disability.

Eugenics in Britain: Support

Supporters of eugenics in Britain called for government policies to improve the biological quality of the human race through "selective parenthood." They linked disabilities and social problems to crime, vagrancy, and other societal issues, advocating for compulsory sterilisation as a solution.

Eugenics in Britain: Forced Sterilisation

In 2015, a UK judge ruled to allow a mother of six with disabilities to undergo forced sterilisation, arguing that the procedure was in the best interest of the woman’s health. The judge claimed that the case was not about eugenics but rather the risk to her life in the event of a further pregnancy.

Lombroso’s Theory

Lombroso’s theory of hereditary criminality proposed that criminal behaviour is inherited. He argued that eliminating reproductive opportunities for criminals through institutionalisation or sterilisation could help reduce crime and "improve" society, linking to eugenics policies.