[The case of the 'lowlife': perceptions of danger and the prevention of disreputable behaviors in theRevista de Criminología, Psiquiatría, Medicina Legal y Ciencias Afinesin Buenos Aires, 1914-1923].

We analyze the construction of the notion of the 'lowlife' in the city of Buenos Aires in the Revista de Criminología, Psiquiatría y Medicina Legal, from 1914-1923. We shall analyze the notion of 'lowlife', meaning behaviors situated in a border zone between crime and madness, from the point of view of prevention and perception of danger. The first way of analyzing the 'lowlife' examines institutional projects that were related to eugenics and that advocated preventive detention of dangerous people, 'alcoholists' and vagrants. The second involves identifying in moral and physical terms the kind of people who were targeted in the creation of intervention projects for those considered to be 'lowlifes', who could potentially damage the fabric of society in some way.