THE PROBLEM OF DEGENERACY. 1 



By A. F. Tredgold. 



By the term " degenerac}* " is usually understood any marked fall- 

 ing away, either morally, mentally, or physically, from the average 

 condition of the nation or race. Thus, among civilized peoples, the 

 habitual criminal and the morally perverse, the mentally unstable 

 and insane, the physically weak and ill-developed, are often spoken 

 of as " degenerates." But these various conditions may be dependent 

 upon widely different causes, and in the endeavor to make this clear, 

 and to attach, if possible, a more precise meaning to the word, it 

 will be well to refer to some points regarding individual develop- 

 ment. 



In a previous article in this Review (October, 1913) it was stated 

 that the development of the individual is dependent upon two fac- 

 tors — namely, the seed from which he is derived and the soil in 

 which that seed is grown. These are commonly spoken of as heredity 

 and environment, or nature and nurture; perhaps they are more 

 accurately defined as intrinsic potentiality and extrinsic stimulation. 

 It was shown that the highest degree of development necessitates the 

 presence of a maximum developmental potentiality plus an optimum 

 environment. It follows that defective development, of sufficient 

 severity to come within the usual meaning of the word degeneracy, 

 may be caused by a defect in either or both of these contributory 

 factors. As examples of such inferiorit} 7 due to defects in the 

 environment, I may refer to the intellectual poverty and the immo- 

 rality or moral obliquity which result from inadequate or improper 

 training and instruction during youth and adolescence; also to the 

 stunted growth and poor physique, often the actual disease and 

 deformity, which follow insanitary surroundings, deprivation of 

 suitable food and exercise, and general neglect or mismanagement, 

 during the early months and years of development. These are con- 

 ditions with which most of us are only too familiar; and probably no 

 one would deny that under such adverse surroundings the individual 

 must fail to attain that degree of development of which he is innately 

 capable. 



On the other hand, we are equally familiar with instances in which, 

 in spite of the most hygienic surroundings, the best education and 



1 Reprinted by permission from the Quarterly Review. July. 1017. 



547 



