Genie Wiley Case Study

The Case of Susan “Genie” Wiley 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 …show more content…

When Susan was discovered, she was wearing a diaper and was thought to be much younger that what she appeared. There are evident signs for physical, mental, and emotional abuse and the child is severely malnourished. In the coming days after the discovering of Susan, it was found that Susan was kept isolated in one of the back bedrooms of her family home. She was either confined to a crib or tied to a child’s potty chair and was only given baby food. At this time, Susan it is not safe for her to return home and should be removed from future maltreatment. The mother has a history of vision problems and has been institutionalized in the past. When questioning the mother, she revealed that Susan’s father is the main source of violence in the home and has been abusing her throughout their marriage. After the eldest child ran off, the mother decided to take Susan and leave her husband. Both Susan and her mother are at risk of severe harm and need intensive services that focuses on their emotional, physical, and mental health. The mother and father should be evaluated and they need services that addresses on how to properly care for a mentally challenged child. Susan is the youngest of four children, of which only she and her older brother, John, were the only to survive. It is believed that her father, Clark, is responsible for his first two children’s deaths. John was also severely physically abused by Clark and was often given notes to excuse him from gym at school. John and Susan had limited interactions together and John was beaten when he tried to give her food. At the age of eighteen, John ran away to escape his father’s callous abuse, thus leaving Susan to endure