Fertility of the Unfit
Book • 2017
William Chapple's 'The Fertility of the Unfit' is a polemical early 20th-century work linking social problems to heredity and arguing that those deemed 'unfit' were reproducing at rates that threatened societal health.
Chapple, a doctor and politician, advocated for measures including compulsory sterilisation of certain institutionalised people as a means to prevent perceived degeneration.
The book influenced eugenic thinking among parts of New Zealand's medical and political elite and contributed to debates leading to restrictive legislation.
Its arguments reflect period assumptions about heredity, social class, and morality, now widely discredited and criticised for their ethical implications.
The work is historically significant for understanding how eugenic policies gained traction in New Zealand.
Chapple, a doctor and politician, advocated for measures including compulsory sterilisation of certain institutionalised people as a means to prevent perceived degeneration.
The book influenced eugenic thinking among parts of New Zealand's medical and political elite and contributed to debates leading to restrictive legislation.
Its arguments reflect period assumptions about heredity, social class, and morality, now widely discredited and criticised for their ethical implications.
The work is historically significant for understanding how eugenic policies gained traction in New Zealand.
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