There are undoubtedly cases where
the relatives of the affected individual can and should assume
responsibility for his care. No insane or epileptic person whose
condition is probably of a hereditary character should be allowed to
leave an institution unless it is absolutely certain that he or she will
not become a parent: if sterilization is the only means to assure this,
then it should be used. In many cases it has been found that the
individual and his relatives welcome such a step.
The habitual criminals, the chronic alcoholics, and the other defectives
whom we have mentioned as being undesirable parents, will in most cases
need to be given institutional care throughout life, in their own
interest as well as that of society. This is already being done with
many of them, and the extension of the treatment involves no new
principle nor special difficulty.
It should be borne in mind that, from a eugenic point of view, the
essential element in segregation is not so much isolation from society,
but separation of the two sexes. Properly operated, segregation
increases the happiness of the individuals segregated, as well as
working to the advantage of the body politic. In most cases the only
objection to it is the expense, and this, as we have shown, need not be
an insuperable difficulty.
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