Shameful Sciences: Eugenics and Social Darwinism in American Psychology

(Hardback)

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Description

Shameful Sciences documents varied forms of problematic biased theorizing influencing early Western and American psychology. The book brings to light ideologies promoted by key U.S. psychology leaders, specifically those grounded in social Darwinism and eugenics. The book also traces the influence of eugenics in creation of American psychology epistemological/disciplinary practices, including the comparisons of humans to caged animals, extensive testing of fitness, focus on moral and behavioral control of human beings, and on exclusive focus on positive emotions.

Reviews

"The author's topic and coverage is timely and this is an area of psychology's history that needs to be further unveiled to contextualize current events." --Maureen Matthews, Virginia Commonwealth University

"Dr. Yakushko has presented an impressive book proposal that promises to systematically expose the deep roots of social Darwinism and eugenics in American psychology. She is rightfully carefully documenting the abuses that were committed in the name of psychological science, as well as the ways in which this ideologically driven psuedo-science was exported to support the Jewish Holocaust. While we would hope that those who teach and seriously study psychology would be knowledgeable about this "shameful" history, they are often not-- partly due to the ahistoricizing tendencies within psychology itself. This will be a riveting read for those who commit themselves to a critical appraisal of their profession." --Mary Watkins, Pacifica Graduate Institute

Author Bio

Oksana Yakushko PhD is the chair and professor of clinical psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, CA. Her work has focused on issues of xenophobia, gender violence, and global inequalities, as evidenced by over 60 peer review scholarly articles and book chapters. In addition, she has written on both xenophobia as well as socio-historical problems with misuses of psychological sciences in two books, published by Palgrave/McMillan in 2018 and 2019. She has received numerous awards for her work from the American Psychological Association, the American Women in Psychology and other organization. Her work was featured in the Atlantic and the Discovery News. In addition, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (2018) and received a prestigious Woman of the Year Award from a feminist section within the APA. In addition, she has worked together with the Smithsonian Institution Memorial Holocaust Museum on multiple presentations on xenophobia and anti-Semitism as well as worked as a l