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Ethnic Bias in California ’ s Eugenic Sterilization Program , 1920-1945
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Novak, Nicole L. |
| Copyright Year | 2016 |
| Abstract | Background: From 1907 to 1937, thirty-two US states authorized state institutions for the feebleminded and mentally ill to sterilize residents deemed unfit for reproduction. California carried out one third of sterilizations nationwide. Previous reports have documented the over-sterilization of Latino/Hispanic institution residents, and new individual-level data allows us to examine this ethnic bias at a granular level. Methods: We link data on 17,362 California state institution patients recommended for sterilization from 1920-1945 to U.S. Census microdata on total patient populations of each institution in 1920, 1930 and 1940. We estimate rates of sterilization by Latino/Hispanic ethnicity (Spanish surname) and compare ethnic bias in sterilization by gender, age, time, and justifications for sterilization (mental illness, “feeblemindedness”, or perceived social ills such as sexual delinquency or criminal tendency). Results: Latino/Hispanic institution residents were, on average, recommended for sterilization at 2.65 (95% CI: 2.52, 2.77) times the rate of non-Latino/Hispanic institution residents. Ethnic bias in sterilization varied significantly by sex, age group and institution, with the greatest ethnic bias in sterilization among females, among individuals younger than 15, and among individuals living in state homes for the feebleminded (relative to those living in mental hospitals). There were no consistent ethnic differences in reported degree of “feeblemindedness” or mental health diagnoses, but Latino/Hispanic sterilization recommendees were more frequently flagged for “criminal tendencies” than their nonLatino/Hispanic counterparts. Among females, Latina/Hispanic patients were more likely to be deemed “sexually delinquent”. Discussion: While eugenic sterilization laws did not explicitly encourage sterilization of racial/ethnic minorities, in practice these policies targeted patients stereotyped as overfertile and criminally inclined. Ethnic Bias in California’s Eugenic Sterilization Program, 1920-1945 3 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/pdf/rr16-866.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
