Document Type

Article

Publication Date

January 2009

Abstract

Reverend Mastin hired a field worker to trace the family histories of streetwalking women... demanded laws to forbid marriage and prevent childbirth among the "feeble-minded" and urged the use of the Binet-Simon intelligence test to identify them. Mastin's report, "Mental Defectives in Virginia," restated the conventional wisdom: mental defect was hereditary; charity only encouraged people to multiply irresponsibly; excessive tax money was spent on social welfare--and the amount was growing.

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