Backdoor to Eugenics

Considered a classic in the field, Troy Duster's Backdoor to Eugenics was a groundbreaking book that grappled with the social and political implications of the new genetic technologies. Completely updated and revised, this work will be welcomed back into print as we struggle to understand the pros and cons of prenatal detection of birth defects; gene therapies; growth hormones; and substitute genetic answers to problems linked with such groups as Jews, Scandanavians, Native American, Arabs and African Americans. Duster's book has never been more timely. Book Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 2 Title......Page 3 Copyright......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Foreword: Advocating a “Genethics”......Page 7 Preface to the Second Edition......Page 9 Preface to the First Edition......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 15 BACKDOOR to EUGENICS......Page 17 1 Inherited Genetic Disorders and Inherited Social Orders......Page 18 Heritability as the Recurring “Sirens’ Call”......Page 19 Genetics: Multifaceted, but Converging Questions around “Target” Populations......Page 23 The Search for the Genetics of Intelligence: When and Why?......Page 26 The Shifting Focus of the Genetics of Intelligence......Page 30 Summary......Page 33 2 The Prism of Heritability and The Sociology of Knowledge: What Questions? Whose Questions?......Page 36 Framing the Issues and the Sociology of Knowledge......Page 37 The Sociology of Science (Knowledge) and the Game of Go......Page 38 The Search for Genetic Explanations of Inexplicable Experiences at High Altitudes......Page 41 Scientific Knowledge and Its Application: The Case of Sterilization......Page 45 The Sex Selection Controversy in India......Page 49 Summary......Page 52 3 The Genetic Screening of “Target” Populations......Page 53 Newborn Screening Legislation as the Early Wedge......Page 55 Classification of Inherited Disorders......Page 56 Tay-Sachs Screening......Page 59 Sickle-Cell Screening......Page 60 The Comparative Politics of Genetic Screening......Page 62 Three Screens and Their Degree of Political Controversy......Page 66 When is a Multifactorial Disorder a “Genetic” Disorder?......Page 69 Summary......Page 71 4 Dilemmas of a “General” Genetic Disorder Control Policy......Page 73 Law, Lobbying, and Screening......Page 74 Federal Support for the Local Genetic Screen......Page 76 A State Policy on Prenatal Diagnosis......Page 77 State Funding for Amniocentesis......Page 80 Who Uses Amniocentesis?......Page 81 The Third Party in the Medical Triangle......Page 83 The Power of the Third Party......Page 84 The Bearing of the Third-Party Analysis on Genetic Screening......Page 85 Workforce Genetic Screening and the Government......Page 87 Vertical Integration and the Variable Meanings of “Consent”......Page 89 Summary......Page 90 5 Neutrality and Ideology in Genetic Disorder Control......Page 92 The Professional Ideology of the Genetic Counselor......Page 93 Two Sides (at Least) of the Genetic Counselor......Page 96 The Tuskegee Syphilis Study......Page 98 The Genetic Counseling of Screened Carriers......Page 102 Screening in Orchomenos, Greece......Page 103 Field Interviews in Orchomenos......Page 104 Who is Making the “Genetic Claims”?......Page 108 Is the Issue Really “Hard” vs. “Soft” Science?......Page 110 The Problematic of the Genetics of Criminals......Page 111 Appropriation of Genetics for IQ and Race......Page 116 Appropriating the Genetics of Mental Illness......Page 119 “Appropriation” and the “Genetics of Depression”......Page 124 7 Eugenics by the Back Door......Page 127 Sylvia Tesh and the Notion of “Hidden Arguments”......Page 128 Successful Models of Prenatal Intervention, Low-Cost and Low-Technology......Page 132 Registered Prenatal Detection as Disease Prevention Policy: The Gun on the Wall......Page 134 Hidden Arguments and Multifactorial Disorders......Page 137 National and State Genetic Registries......Page 139 The Achievements and the Halo of Molecular Genetics......Page 140 Backdoor Eugenics......Page 142 8 Human Genetics, Evolutionary Theory, and Social Stratification......Page 145 From Biological Darwinism to Social Darwinism......Page 146 “As Humans Can Be Stratified in Evolutionary Development, So Can Cultures”......Page 147 The Germination of Human Genetics in Social Evolutionary Soil: The Birth of Human Population genetics and Human Mendelian.........Page 150 Trouble at the Bottom: Continuity and Persistence......Page 153 The Violence Initiative: Continuity with the Past via the Irrepressible Link......Page 155 The Human Genome Project and the “Turn to Difference”......Page 159 The MAOA Gene and Predicting Violent Behavior......Page 161 Race and DNA: Tensions and Current Tendencies Relevant to Behavioral Genetics......Page 162 Phenotypical Expression at the Point of Arrest: The Selective Aim of the Artillery in the War on Drugs......Page 164 Background to “Ethnic-Affiliation Markers” at the DNA Level......Page 170 The dangerous Intersection of Allele Frequencies in Special Populations and Police Profiling vial Phenotype......Page 173 Population-Wide DNA Database......Page 174 Why Search for the Genetic Basis of Any Given Behavior?......Page 177 Conclusion: Searching for Correlations with Variable Etiologies......Page 178 Introduction......Page 181 The “Natural Setting” as the Starting Point......Page 185 Levels and Methods of Inquiry......Page 186 APPENDIX B Screening Issues in Counseling......Page 188 Risk Taking versus Risk Aversion......Page 190 Data Collection and the Selection of the Two Cases......Page 191 Culpability, Knowledge, and Expertise in Counseling......Page 200 APPENDIX C The Ethnic Distribution of Disease......Page 213 Notes......Page 216 References......Page 232 Index......Page 255 Inherited Genetic Disorders And Inherited Social Orders -- The Prism Of Heritability And The Sociology Of Knowledge: What Questions? Whose Questions? -- The Genetic Screening Of Target Populations -- Dilemmas Of A General Genetic Disorder Control Policy -- Neutrality And Ideology In Genetic Disorder Control -- The Increasing Appropriation Of Genetic Explanations -- Eugenics By The Back Door -- Human Genetics, Evolutionary Theory, And Social Stratification -- Afterword: The New And Emerging Relationship Between Behavioral And Molecular Genetics. Troy Duster ; [with A Foreword By Pierre Bourdieu]. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 212-233) And Index. Publisher description: Considered a classic in the field, Troy Duster's Backdoor to Eugenics was a groundbreaking book that grappled with the social and political implications of the new genetic technologies. Completely updated and revised, this work will be welcomed back into print as we struggle to understand the pros and cons of prenatal detection of birth defects; gene therapies; growth hormones; and substitute genetic answers to problems linked with such groups as Jews, Scandinavians, Native American, Arabs, and African Americans. Duster's book has never been more timely