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Last broadcast on Sat, 28 Aug 2010, 22:15 on BBC Radio 4 (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
Edward Stourton chairs a live debate in which Professor David Marsland defends his view that the mentally and morally unfit should be sterilised. Professor David Marsland is Emeritus Scholar of Sociology and Health Sciences at Brunel University, London and Professorial Research Fellow in Sociology at the University of Buckingham. He argues that the only way to prevent the abuse and neglect of children whose parents are incapable of looking after them is to stop them from being born in the first place. It should be open to police and social workers to recommend that drug addicts, alcoholics and the mentally disabled should be irreversibly sterilised - and the courts should be able to enforce this. Challenging his views will be three expert witnesses including a senior social worker, a drugs charity lawyer and a moral philosopher.
Join in the debate by emailing iconoclasts@bbc.co.uk or text during the programme on 84844.
Producer: Peter Everett.
The Iconoclast: Professor David Marsland
Emeritus Scholar of Sociology and Health Sciences at Brunel University, London and Professional Research Fellow in Sociology at the University of Buckingham. Distinguished writer, broadcaster and academic commentator.
Niamh Eastwood
Niamh Eastwood is a non-practising barrister and is Head of Legal Services and Deputy Director at the UK charity Release. The organisation provides legal assistance to drug users in London seeing over 1500 clients a year in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the city. The organisation also campaigns vigorously against laws that have a disproportionate impact on this group arguing that drug users should be treated with equality and respect. Niamh also contributes to a number of journals and is regularly asked to comment on drug policy in the media.
Ruth Stark
Ruth Stark is a Social Worker & Manager at the British Association Social Workers, Scotland. She has written various articles and conference presentations nationally and internationally on the theme of Balancing Need, Risk and Human Rights.
Professor Janet Radcliffe Richards
Janet Radcliffe Richards is Professor of Practical Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. Her work on the practical applications of philosophy has extended to a wide range of subjects such as feminism (The Sceptical Feminist, 1980), discrimination and inequality (Philosophical Problems of Equality, 1996) and the implications of Darwinian theory (Human Nature after Darwin, 2000) and biomedical ethics. She is currently writing a book for Oxford University Press on controversies about organ transplantation.
Broadcasts
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Wed 25 Aug 201020:00
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Sat 28 Aug 201022:15
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