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.
Recommended Citation
Mastin, Joseph T., "Mental Defectives in Virginia: A Special Report of the State Board of Charities and Corrections to the General Assembly of 1916, on Weak Mindedness in the State of Virginia; together with a Plan for the Training, Segregation, and Prevention of the Procreation of Feeble-Minded" (2009). Buck v Bell Documents. Paper 2.
http://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/buckvbell/2