Degeneración, criminalidad y heredo-alcoholismo en Colombia, primera mitad del siglo XX

This article analyzes how medical discourse objectified alcoholism as a “morbid state”, closely linked to criminality and mental illness, based on some medical theses, scientific articles and debates produced during the first three decades of the 20th century in Colombia. The appropriation of the th...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Vásquez, María Fernanda
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2018
Country:Brasil
Institution:Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
Repository:Saúde e Sociedade (Online)
Language:Spanish
English
OAI Identifier:oai:revistas.usp.br:article/148215
Online Access:https://revistas.usp.br/sausoc/article/view/148215
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Alcoholism
Colombia
Mental Disorders
Criminology
Degeneration
Alcoholismo
Enfermedad Mental
Criminalidad
Degeneración
Description
Summary:This article analyzes how medical discourse objectified alcoholism as a “morbid state”, closely linked to criminality and mental illness, based on some medical theses, scientific articles and debates produced during the first three decades of the 20th century in Colombia. The appropriation of the theory of degeneration allowed physicians, hygienists and criminologists to understand alcoholism as a pathology, an abnormality, an instinct, and an innate addiction that produced fatal effects on the population and its generations. A discourse that allowed us to evaluate and intervene the difference in a historical moment especially concerned with human capital as part of the country’s progress.