The Emergence of Genetic Counseling in Sweden

Examples from Eugenics and Medical Genetics

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4516648
AutoresMaria Björkman (0000-0001-9025-0537, Uppsala University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2015
Volumen28
Número3
Páginas489-513
Fecha de publicación2015-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaScience in Context (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0269-8897 • E-ISSN: 1474-0664
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0269889715000216
PMID26256508
OpenAlexW1948136007
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas25

ArgumentThis paper examines the intertwined relations between eugenics and medical genetics from a Swedish perspective in the 1940s and 1950s. The Swedish case shows that a rudimentary form of genetic counseling emerged within eugenic practices in the applications of the Swedish Sterilization Act of 1941, here analyzed from the phenomenon of "heredophobia" (ärftlighetsskräck). At the same time genetic counseling also existed outside eugenic practices, within the discipline of medical genetics. The paper argues that a demand for genetic counseling increased in the 1940s and 1950s in response to a sense of reproductive responsibility engendered by earlier eugenic discourse. The paper also questions the claim made by theoreticians of biopolitics that biological citizens have emerged only during the last decades, especially in neoliberal societies. From the Swedish case it is possible to argue that this had already happened earlier in relation to the proliferation of various aspects of eugenics to the public

Biology · Eugenics · Gene · Genetic counseling · Medical genetics · BRCA gene mutations in cancer · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare · Medical History and Research · Medicine · Genetics