One of the worse cases of child abuse has been the case of Genie. Genie was living in a room in her parent’s house for over 10 years; this is a case of severe isolation. To point out, Genie would be punished for making any noise while she was in that room, and because of this she never learned to talk. She was also strapped in a potty chair for the majority of her early life, which resulted in poor motor functions and her inability to walk normally. According to a phycologist on Genie’s case, a person can experience symptoms of isolation after only 15 minutes. I was surprised that Genie could have withstood these adverse conditions for more than 10 years. Socialization and social interaction became a challenge Genie and her peers had to face following her rescue. By growing up in isolation during an individual’s crucial learning years, Genie had no idea of self and the concept of generalized other. According to Charles Horton Cooley, a sociologist, self “emerges from our ability to assume the point of view of others and thereby imagine how they see us.” In this …show more content…
According to Conley, socialization is “the process by which individuals internalized the values, beliefs, and norms, of a given society and learn to function as members of that society”. In other words, socialization allows an individual to operate affectively in society. Genie was socialized by the leading agent of socialization: family. I was disturbed by how her father locked her up and did not treat her as if she was human. As a child, she was socialized not to speak, and later upon entry at the the children’s hospital, she was resocialized to speak and become a member of the total institution she was living in, the hospital. In detail, Genie learned how to eat, speak, walk, and progressed her motor skills, and she later followed the norms adhering to the
It is important to appreciate that these issues are very complex, and to be familiar with how abuse and neglect can affect various aspects of a person's life. Child abuse does not affect every person the same. The extremity of the abuse and different situations determine the effect. Some people could live on to become great people and do great things. They don’t look at the abuse as something negative but rather as something that made them strong and made them believe that they were better and could do better than the situation that they were in. Dealing with abuse after it is over is the toughest thing to handle, most people that could afford therapy go to it, but since most people can‘t afford it they try to deal with it the best they can. Although in most cases the child is removed from the home that the abuse is happening in, sometimes child abuse can slip by unnoticed and that can have severe consequences on the child as well as others.
However, the therapy sessions would be beneficial to them as it will enable them to develop certain behaviors for overcoming the disorder (Gehlawat, 2015). It may take long therapy session for such people to be helped since it involves identifying the things that make them behave in that inhuman way and again analysed how those behaviors could be changed to something beneficial for their child. Also, during such period of therapy, it is advisable that the child or the victim should be placed under the care of another guardian. This would help the person concentrate on her recovering and also prevent the victim from further abuses. The child is recommended to be placed under foster care for that period which would also be beneficial on his or her
Tommy Austin, a U.S. Customs agent, has a problem. His wife’s friend has a son with leukemia who might not make it. Chris, the boy with leukemia, always dreamed of becoming a police officer. Austin wanted to help Chris realize his dream, but Customs hesitated to help so he turned to the Arizona Department of Safety. He talks to a DPS officer who sends this idea up the chain of command. The director gives him the permission to fulfill Chris’ wish, and soon after Tommy Austin receives notice that Chris may not be able to hang on much longer.
Genies isolation caused her to not be able to perform basic human task. Like walking upright, talking, feeding herself, toileting herself, and her physical development was never learned because of her isolation. The fact that Genie had no contact with the outside world and not much positive contact with her parents it made her underdeveloped physically, emotionally, socially and psychologically. I feel like the process of socialization is important because it makes it possible for us to fully function as human beings. Socialization and social interaction are the normal development of humans. Without either, we would not be able to survive as humans. Socialization is the process of learning how to become part of a culture. Through socialization we as humans, learn our cultures language, role in life, and what is expected from us. It is also a very important process in forming our personalities. Without socialization a person will develop different physical and mental disabilities which happened in Genies
From birth, children are dependent on parents for survival and safety. Infants need this attachment in order to survive. Basic needs like shelter and food are things in that all human beings need; but for infants and children, in particular, they cannot survive independently without parents and guidance. Furthermore, as children grow, the parent-child attachment is not just physical, but it is also psychological. Adults who care for children through unconditional love and acceptance, provide positive living environments and self confidence which helps the child grow independently into an adult. Failure in this child-parent relationship in the form of long term neglect or trauma can have consequences in a child’s development physically and psychologically.
When Genie , also known as Wild Child, was first found she was very pale and badly malnourished. Genie was also very underweight, weak and couldn't speak. Her condition was terrifying she was born in an environment where she didn't have much contact with human beings, and was basically tied to a toilet chair. Genie’s situation gathered people from all over the world, because they hadn’t seen like it. To some this experiment involves a “nature experiment,” because she was isolated her whole life and heard at least no words when isolated, but she still had that building block to learn. However, I believe that the “nurture environment,” was more necessary because without a nurture period it may never be regained. This enabled her to make up for
One of the feral cases is that of Genie. This is a girl who was severely abused by her family especially her father. Genie’s father consistently punished her through beating to an extent that she could never have a chance to exercise things as a normal human being. The situation was even worse due to the fact that Genie was kept in a close room right from when she was an infant up to the age of 13 years. By that time, Genie had developed a severe abnormality. Her behavior and physical functioning of her body was completely like that of a less human being. She was speechless, could not construct a two word sentence and demonstrated no sense of personality.
On November 4, 1970 in Los Angeles, California Genie’s condition was brought to attention by a social worker. The worker discovered the 13-year old girl in a small, dimly lit, confined bedroom. An investigation by authorities exposed that the child had spent most of her life in this room and typically was tied to a potty chair. Genie was found in diapers because she was not potty trained. Her case is an example of extreme isolation from human contact, society, sunlight, and any other environments besides her room. The deprivation of attachment showed when she was timid to humans, almost afraid. Someone whose life was a developmental nightmare could not possibly be expected to have the basic trust that the world is trustworthy and predictable. The life she lived was incredibly horrifying as morals, and psychology portray just how severe the consequences were on Genie.
Upon the discovery of such a case, scientist began to study Genie and attempted to use the lack of her social development to support or disprove several hypotheses. In the meantime, the poor girl’s exposure went from one extreme to another, as her environment had shifted from a complete and total isolation to an overwhelming path of new experiences. For a while, Genie was successful at learning the language and she became more social with the people around her.
A normal child develops in a variety of domains that are closely linked with each other. They influence and enhance each other so that the child’s growth and progress are balanced (Blank & Berg 5). Unfortunately, the circumstances faced by feral, isolated and confined children do not give them the same opportunities as normal children to have such a balanced development. Feral, isolated and confined children are those who have spent a substantial amount of their formative years away from normal human contact. Feral, wild, or wolf children are children who grew up in the protection of animals. Isolated children are those who grew up on their own in the wilderness, while confined children are those who were brought up without contact with any other people and under very deplorable situations. Whereas the circumstances of feral and isolated children are mostly unintentional, the cases of confined children are usually prompted by neglect or abuse by other people. The observations made on these children have helped in demonstrating the effects of lack of social interaction on normal growth and developmen...
The rescue of Genie lead to studies of research involving the sociological aspect of human development and behaviours of an individual who was secluded from society. Evidence throughout the film presents the ways in which Genie faced a barrier between herself and the cultural dynamics of language. The lack of socialization in maintaining a sense of self as well as social isolation, and the effect of microstructures that had restricted the growth of meaningful relationships.
Although each sociological theory differs, the central issue is clear. John B. Watson would claim the biggest issues are that she had no example to learn from and that she was not nurtured (“Behaviorist Approach”). Many other sociologists would agree a dominant issue was lack of nurture. Harry and Margaret Harlow would argue the main issue was that Genie was in isolation for so long, which relates to lack of nurture as well (“Harry Harlow and the Nature of Love”). Sigmund Freud would agree with the other sociologists because he believed Genie needed bonding (or nurture) since birth (“Sigmund
The number one questions the surrounds the case of Genie Wiley is whether she was born mentally retarded or was this a result of her ten years in isolation from birth? This question can receive two different answers based on how you choose to perceive the nature or the nurture of another person. Genie did have the capacity to grow, just as Victor did in a similar study years ago in France. Once their isolation was removed, they began to civilize, which leads myself to believe that nurture took more part in the development in Genies behavior rather than a genetic disorder that her father seemed to believe she had.
If Genie’s impairment was congenital or caused by nature, then it would provide a great amount of evidence to the nature prospective but if her impairment was developed or caused by her environment then it would provide a great amount of evidence for the nurture argument.
All the various experiments were most likely overwhelming and stressful for Genie, and could have been the major reason why she was never able to learn how to make sentences. I believe Genie was never really loved since she was always transferred to different foster homes. I also believe that if Genie stayed in one foster home, she could have been less overwhelmed and more capable of learning how to speak. Genie’s mother also viewed the experimentations on Genie as unethical and eventually sued children’s hospital for doing scientific research rather than providing therapy to rehabilitate her. Genie’s mother won the case, and further experimentations on Genie were no longer allowed. When experimentations were over, Genie went to her first foster home. At her fist foster home, she was intensely punished for vomiting. The experience of her getting punished was so traumatizing, that Genie needed to go back to Children 's