Eugenics as a Factor in the Prevention of Mental Disease

Written in 1922, this statistical and argumentative work from the height of the American eugenics movement presents its case for hereditary control as a solution to the growing crisis of mental illness in state institutions. Pollock, a statistician with the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, marshals institutional census data to argue that mental disease is predominantly inherited, and that without intervention, the 'burden' of institutional care will overwhelm public resources. His proposed remedies include stricter marriage regulations, segregation, and the restriction of reproduction among those deemed 'unfit.' The book stands as a primary document of Progressive Era public health thinking, revealing how scientific methodology and social concern for vulnerable populations could be twisted to justify coercion. For historians of public health, disability studies scholars, and those researching the intellectual origins of forced sterilization in America, this text provides indispensable insight into the statistical logic that underpinned some of the darkest chapters in 20th-century social policy.