Keeping America Sane: Psychiatry and Eugenics in the United States and Canada, 1880-1940

What would bring a physician to conclude that sterilization is appropriate treatment for the mentally ill or handicapped? Using archival sources, the author documents the involvement of both American and Canadian psychiatrists in the eugenics movement of the early 20th century. He explains why professional men and women committed to helping those less fortunate than themselves arrived at such morally and intellectually dubious conclusions.