BACKGROUND: Assumptions about genetic differences in human mental characteristics can be traced in large part to the eugenic movement, ascendant at the turn of the 20th century. MATERIAL: This paper offers historical case studies, of 'innate general cognitive ability' and 'psychiatric genetics', in order to appraise the eugenic legacy in current psychology and psychiatry. DISCUSSION: Reviewing the work of representatives, Cyril Burt, Franz Kallmann and Eliot Slater, along with their research networks, it is argued that eugenics remains a quiet but powerful background influence in modern-day psychology and psychiatry. CONCLUSION: At the turn of the 21st century, eugenics remains an important area of inquiry, reflection and education for those in the inter-disciplinary field of social psychiatry.
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