ERADICATING FOCI OF MENTAL DEFECT 275 



space was too badly needed for more acute social problems. Since then 

 we have sent two other members of this family to the same state institution 

 mentioned before, another one to the private school, and another to a state 

 school. Three others who were sent first to institutions for delinquents 

 were discovered there and committed to institutions for defectives before 

 their terms were up. We can no longer persuade the members of the family 

 to come to the clinic, but we are able to examine them through the schools, 

 and so have the defective members listed for future care, as the need arises. 

 Even the few branches of the family mentioned here were under the super- 

 vision at various times of 27 agencies and institutions, and before we get all 

 the defective members eradicated, no doubt there will be further expense 

 to the community. But at least we have made a start. We do not expect 

 to clear up the situation in one generation, and are not even attempting to 

 do anything with the older members of the family. 



Since the cost of institutional care is proving so prohibitive to the tax- 

 payers, we have to make use of every other facility, special class training, 

 supervision, group recreation, etc., to prevent as much dependency and 

 delinquency as possible. However, this does not get to the root of the 

 situation. In spite of the fact that many of the children of defectives are 

 not defective themselves, and in spite of the fact that nowadays much stress 

 is placed on the idea that mental defect is not as much an hereditary prob- 

 lem as we assumed back in 1912, I have never been convinced that if all 

 the known defectives of this present generation were prevented from re- 

 producing that the number of defectives in the world would not be materially 

 lessened and that then the program mentioned by our sociological friend 

 might ultimately be sufficient. I believe that in sterilization we have the 

 only economical and possible solution. 



