and social decay, many campaigns advocated and supported the ‘eugenic solution’ which ultimately manifested itself in eugenic institutions/centers such as Elwyn. Some centers specifically targeted women in an effort to control and regulate a subsection of the female population that was defined as fertile, feeble-minded, female paupers and therefore officially recognized as dysgenic. This theoretical relationship manifested itself in early legislation that supported psychological asylums that aimed to indirectly criminalize not an action, but the female body itself. Eugenics in prisons during the 20th Century As World War II came to a close in the 1945 the eugenics movement, which was founded on the idea that the improvement of human genetic traits would result in a more desirable population, quickly lost legitimacy in the scientific community. However, it was important to note that prior to the end of the war eugenics proved to be a major factor in motivating other (seemingly unconnected) reforms in health, welfare, housing, education, or penology. In order to appreciate the nature of reform in the Progressive Era, it is essential to understand the eugenics movement and how it quickly gained popularity - especially when the movement required extensive legislation and the building of institutions, such as prisons. The science of eugenics appealed to conservatives because it proved a technocratic and modern-sounding framework to control the growing power of immigrants. Prior to this scientific theory, they had attempted to impose their cultural values on newcomers by the traditional 'symbolic crusades' of temperance and evangelism. The changing political climate, however, rendered these methods archaic and eugenics gained popularity because it provided the ideological structure necessary to give scientific substance to traditional prejudices. In 1915, social and political elites were attempting to control lower-class newcomers through reforming and ‘child saving’ institutions backed by the science of eugenics which seemed more reasonable than religion. Eugenic prison themes in the media Sterilized Behind Bars Sterilized Behind Bars is a documentary about the forced sterilization of female prisoners. The film focuses on the State of California, where nearly 20,000 women are recorded to have experienced forced sterilization. The film shows the several personal experiences of female prisoners, showing how vulnerable a woman’s body because she doesn’t know better, ‘I figured that it’s just what happens in prison.’ It touches on the notion of “informed consent” when prisoners aren’t given much of a choice from prison staff. Power is misused and refusal