<i>Psychiatry and the Legacies of Eugenics: Historical Studies of Alberta and Beyond</i>. Edited by Frank W. Stahnisch and Erna Kurbegovic

This edited collection places the history of eugenics in Western Canada—Alberta in particular—in an international context while highlighting how the ideology remained embedded in psychiatry and mental health practice long after the horrors of Nazi Germany came to light. Psychiatrists and psychologists played a central role in labeling individuals as “unfit” and helped justify segregation and institutionalization, marriage regulation, and restrictive immigration policies. Of particular note is how this arm of medicine contributed to the longevity of eugenic sterilization. The eight chapters in this collection each examine these intersections through different emphases—individual eugenic champions, their core beliefs and collaborative relationships; the role of different professions in promoting or carrying out eugenics programs; the social, cultural and international context informing the workings of sterilization legislation; and the extent to which media discourses on eugenics reflected international trends and societal acceptance. These chapters are supplemented by two commentaries that consider contemporary human rights and policy issues from a disability rights perspective, and a forward, prologue, introduction, conclusion and appendix. The strengths of this volume center on the role and responsibility of medical professionals in promoting coercive and self-serving ideologies and practices. Most interestingly, Erna Kurbegovic considers the near passage of sterilization legislation in Manitoba, resulting largely from pressure exerted by the medical community, and reminds us that “significant enthusiasm” (p. 120) can exist for eugenics even in provinces without explicit sterilization legislation. In his systematic review of compensation schemes offered to victims of eugenic sterilization in post-war Germany, Paul Weindling finds compensation was limited and “lamentably late” (p. 197) and this neglect resulted largely from the medical profession effectively condoning mass sterilizations—a chapter that holds lessons for ongoing discussions on how to address more recent instances of coerced sterilization.

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.