Genie Wiley was born in Arcadia, California April 18th 1957, she was a victim of severe abuse, neglect, and social isolation. When Genie was a baby her father concluded that she was severely mentally retarded, a view which intensified as she got older, causing him to dislike her and withhold care and attention (Las Angeles). Around the time she reached the age of 20 months Genie's father decided to keep her as socially isolated as possible. He kept her strapped to a child's toilet or bound her in a crib with her arms and legs completely immobilized, forbade anyone from interacting with her, provided her with almost no stimulation of any kind, and left her severely malnourished (Las Angeles). Convinced that Genie would die by age 12, her father …show more content…
This is known as socialization, which is the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture. This is an important process for children, who are socialized at home and in school. For children, the process teaches what will be expected of them as they grow up and become full members of society. It is also important for adults who join new social groups (Social Isolation).
No Socialization Typically most children around the age of 2 have already started to walk and utter words. This is not the case for children who unfortunately have suffered a rare civil distortion that has now been known as social isolation (Social Isolation). Children or even adults that have suffered social isolation commonly have not learned how to properly communicate, walk, and depending on the severity of social isolation, body parts such as legs will be deformed. There are many causes to social isolation, with the most prominent being social neglect and mentally distorted parents (Social Isolation).
Importance
Socialization is an important everyday must for children and adults (Horrific Story). As in the case of Genie Wiley indicates, socialization makes it possible for us to fully function as human beings. Without socialization, we could not have our society and culture. And without social interaction, we could not have socialization (Horrific
A)Socialization/page 67: The process by which people learn the characteristics of their group- the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, norms, and actions thought appropriate for them.
On November 4th, 1970, Los Angeles child welfare authorities became aware of the abuse, neglect, and social isolation of Susan “Genie” Wiley. It was when social workers noticed the odd behavior of Susan after her and her mother, who was seeking financial support, walked into welfare offices. Upon further investigation, they discovered that Susan was thirteen years old and had been severely maltreated by her father her entire life. Susan’s father came to the conclusion early in her life that she was socially unfit, or “retarded’ and was ashamed of her. He hid her in the back bedroom of the Wiley home and kept her from neighbors, family, and friends. This left Susan unable to develop language skills learned from
A little girl who had been socially isolated for atleast ten years was discovered in 1970 in the Los Angeles, CA area. She was nicknamed “Genie” by scientists, but her real name is Susan Wiley. When “Genie” was little, her father made the executive decision
The academic essay, “The Social Foundations of Human Experience”, by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann written in 1966 is an interesting take on the socialization of human beings. It provides a myriad of information and ideas promoting readers to think about how socialization, as well as social structures effect both society and individual beings. The authors argue that human beings experience life based on the socialization process and their innate abilities to interact with each other. Society operates in a distinct way, based on human activity and human interaction. Through examining our course content and reading the essay I have found that the Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann
Socialization is a process that teaches us how we should behave in society and is a critical aspect in human development. It is a process that begins as soon as we are born and continues throughout our entire lives. Socialization introduces us to the world that we will live in, and in turn, prepares us for life. Without this process, we wouldn't have the ability to do everyday tasks such as feeding ourselves or sitting in a chair. We also wouldn't be able to understand those around us.
Socialization is a lifelong process of acquiring one’s personal identity; when we interact within the four agents of socialization—family, school, media, and peer groups—we internalize norms, values, behavior, and social skills. Since our values, norms, and beliefs about society are first learned with family, family is the most important and influential agent of socialization.
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.
Genie’s abuse and social isolation was mainly a result of her father’s decision and justification that Genie was severely mentally retarded and believed hiding her from the world was the best option for everyone (Curtiss, 1988). The only visual stimuli that Genie could interact with were her potty chair, crib, carpet, and plain empty walls. Genie’s severe neglect and abuse in her childhood ultimately lead her t...
Socialization is defined as the process by which an individual internalizes the norms, values and beliefs of their social world. The socialization process occurs throughout the life course of the individual and is influenced by agents of socialization, which include a variety of social institutions and daily social interactions. Some examples of such agents are peers,family, neighborhood,sports, schools, religion, the workplace, and especially the mass media. Socialization agents in your life shapes, develops, and help highlight who you are as a person. The agents of socialization that have molded and shaped my life through high school and college are family,school,neighborhood..These agents have have helped me become who I am today and has
A question was brought up during the film; was genie damaged from her years of abuse or retarded from birth? Genie’s father believed from an early age that Genie was retarded and therefore needed to be kept in isolation. However, this was his own bias. For 13 years, Genie grew up detached from people, there was no concern in her upbringing nor did she have any significant life experiences. Genie was not given the freedom of opening herself up to the world around her, this was unjustifiable as a child relies on their surroundings in order to learn, grow and prosper. Socialization is the process in which an individual interacts with others in turn allowing them to become more aware of themselves. George Herbert Mead outlined that “the self” is not there from birth, it develops through social experience. It was apparent that Genie did not have a sense of self, due to the lack of interaction between others and her environment. Mead also developed the idea of significant others, which are people that play an important role in the early stages of a child’s social development. Genie did not have that figure, as her mother and father were both dis-engaged from her life. They did not support Genie, and teach her the fundamental basic skills that are needed in order for a child to fit into the basic norms of society. Genie did not take part in secondary socialization, as she was not given the opportunity to go to school. Therefore, she acted much younger than a normal thirteen-year-old, and did not receive the proper care a young girl was obliged to
...onsequence of her having zero interaction with other humans, this child was not aware of any social qualities. From the example of feral children, we can reasonably infer that socialization and nurture are key ingredients in a child’s development.
In the social development theory,( Leo Vygotsky primarily) explains that socialization affects the learning process in an individual. It tries to explain consciousness or awareness as the result of socialization. This means that when we talk to our peers or adults, we talk to them for the sake of communication.
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.
Socialization prepares us for our life experiences. It can be considered a reverential foundation for society. We may not agree to some rules in society, but without socialization a civil society would cease to exist. In addition, any influences on the socialization process have a profound effect on how we function as a community with some of the more notable discovery’s being email and instant messaging. Electronic or “virtual” socializing has proved to be exceedingly more popular than the preceding face to face social interaction like dating, church and ...
Socialization is the process of passing down norms, customs, and ideologies that are important to the society by the previous generations to the younger generations. The school system is a social agency that was created to enhance the processes of socialization through education. The importance of school as an agent of socialization can be best explained by the amount of time students spend in school and in activities happen around school. The manifest functions of school are to educate students the social norms, and the knowledge and skills that help them become economically productive in order to benefit the society. But students not only learn from the academic curriculum but they also benefit from socialize with their teachers and peers.