ERIC Number: EJ983951
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Apr
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1934-9556
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Who Was Deborah Kallikak?
Smith, J. David; Wehmeyer, Michael L.
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, v50 n2 p169-178 Apr 2012
"The Kallikak Family" was, along with "The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease, and Heredity", one of the most visible eugenic family narratives published in the early 20th century. Published in 1912 and authored by psychologist Henry Herbert Goddard, director of the psychological laboratory at the Vineland Training School for Feebleminded Children in Vineland, New Jersey, "The Kallikak Family" told the tale of a supposedly "degenerate" family from rural New Jersey, beginning with Deborah, one of the inmates at the Training School. Like most publications in the genre, this pseudoscientific treatise described generations of illiterate, poor, and purportedly immoral Kallikak family members who were chronically unemployed, supposedly feebleminded, criminal, and, in general, perceived as threats to "racial hygiene." Presented as a "natural experiment" in human heredity, this text served to support eugenic activities through much of the first half of the 20th century. This article reviews the story of Deborah Kallikak, including her true identity, and provides evidence that Goddard's treatise was incorrect.
Descriptors: Heredity, Family Relationship, Profiles, Rural Areas, Mental Retardation, Criminals, Unemployment, History, Special Schools
American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. P.O. Box 7065, Lawrence, KS 66044-7065. Tel: 785-843-1235; Fax: 785-843-1274; e-mail: AJMR@allenpress.com; Web site: http://aaiddjournals.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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