However, because eugenicists saw crime as one of those unitary genetic characteristics that defined the unfit, it soon became obvious that sterilization was also justified as a general practice to prevent the propagation of unfit individuals, family lineages, ethnic groups, and races. Furthermore, it was generally believed that the feeble-minded and other unfit individuals would breed with no regard for the consequences, would have larger families, and thus would outnumber normal families (Paul 1995).
