This is defined as the study of practices which aim in improvement of undesirable characters which are inheritable. There are theories of criminology which eugenics relate to and they include; biological theories of crime which explain some behaviors which are contrary tothe expectations of the society by examining the characters of the individual. Those behaviors include violation of laws. Another example is the criminal justice of crimes which tends to explain that the rates at which the crimes are committed and why the crimes are committed in the society.
There is the cultural transmission theory which explain the passing of behaviors on the way of living among living organisms. Eugenics is related to cultural transmission in that there undesirable traits which may lead to some criminal behavior and are not wanted in the society and hence they tend to be eliminated to prevent their growth in that particular society. Those are some examples of theories which are related to eugenics.
In the case of Buck v Bell, she was believed to have the characters of feeblemindedness and the sexual promiscuity because she delivered a child who was illegitimate(Stepan,1991).This led to issuing of an order for her to be sterilized without her consent where her mother appealed case to Supreme Court. The eugenic movement helped in ruling of the case because the court ordered her to be sterilized to prevent the inheritance of the feebleminded traits in her. Though this was against her will.
This ruling legitimized the law of eugenic sterilization in USA.This led to enforcement of sterilization in other parts of America and it is permitted since it is used in the country as a policy for population control and purification(Kevles,1995).In some areas in America clearly describes enforced sterilization as illegal which they say it is against the law since it violated the right to bodily integrity of this woman and also the right of every woman out there with the same condition out there.
Some physicians are against the enforced sterilization suggesting that it should be voluntary and it should be done on the consent of the patient. They also add by suggesting that there should be an agreement form filled by the patient showing the terms and conditions and also showing the effects of the sterilization.Such that when done the patient should never blame anyone due to its effects .Genetics should not be used as the basis of any type of legal decision. According to Black,E.(2003), this is because God created everyone and gave them life and it doesn’t matter whether some have undesirable characters or not we are equal before the Supreme being which gave us life.Instead those people with those characters requires support from the others and be given the purpose to live and be accepted in the society. This leads to establishment of good relations in the society.
In conclusion it is my opinion eugenetics should never be used as a tool for legal decision in our society.It is very crucial to differentiate between the changes carried in genetics inorder to improve a group of population and the change in genetics as it is taken by an individual(Galton,1994) .This is because many people get abused in the name of eugenics hence it should be someone’s choice to undergo eugenics.
References
Black, E. (2003). War against the weak: Eugenics and America's campaign to create a master race. New York.
Galton, F. (1904). Eugenics: Its definition, scope, and aims. American Journal of Sociology, 10(1), 1-25.
Kevles, D. J. (1995). In the name of eugenics: Genetics and the uses of human heredity (No. 95). Harvard University Press.
Stepan, N. (1991). ' The hour of eugenics': race, gender, and nation in Latin America. Cornell University Press.