Introduction
The question of what makes a person human has long been of interest to philosophers and has been discussed many times. Some believe that people are born with this innate quality. In contrast, others believe it is completely formed by the society in which a person grows up from childhood. This essay analyzes the sad story of a girl condemned to such isolation by her parents, and about whom society learned only by chance. The case of Genie proves the importance of the environment and conditions in which the child grows up to form their personality.
Case Summary
Upbringing
Genie’s life was like a normal childhood for the first few months. A doctor regularly came to the Wiley couple’s house to examine the child, and the girl herself did not give her parents cause for concern. However, when she turned six months old, the doctors suspected she had a developmental delay, which, of course, was reported to Clark Wiley (Carroll, 2016). The news of his daughter’s illness changed Clark’s attitude towards the child.
Clark Wiley was a tyrant and dictator; he had absolute power over all family members, including his daughter. Therefore, parenting style can be characterized as authoritarian (Larsen et al., 2022). A mentally unstable man who could not stand the noise that prevented him from focusing on his own affairs decided to isolate Genie from himself and the rest of the family.
He remodeled his little daughter’s room, putting an iron cage and a chair with a straitjacket inside, closed the windows with foil, and began to lock Genie there (Cronkite, 1944). During the day, the girl sat motionless on her chair, shackled hand and foot by her father’s homemade device, and spent the nights in complete darkness in an iron cage. As a result, the girl has formed an attachment style that can be described as avoidant.
At the Children’s Hospital
Specialists at the Children’s Hospital focused on Genie’s speech and behavioral abnormalities. Wiley was able to learn basic social skills, greeting, weak expression of emotions, and dialogue. Doctors used a helicopter parenting style, as they were constantly near the girl (Walker et al., 2019). They fed and clothed her and also took care of her psychological development. However, Ginny was not used to such attention from adults, so she had an alarming attachment style.
After the Children’s Hospital
After leaving the Children’s Hospital, one of the psychologists of the project and his wife established full custody of Genie. They tried to use a liberal parenting style based on the needs and desires of the girl (Walker et al., 2019). When Wiley got into his house, the family faced new behavioral problems.
Genie did not know how to express her aggression correctly and often inflicted injuries on herself, which were sometimes very serious (Cronkite, 1944). This demonstrates attachment style, which can be described as repulsive. Fortunately, the Rigler couple solved this problem by directing the girl’s anger at the plastic toy.
Intellectual Disability vs. Social Isolation
I believe that Genie could be born with an intellectual disability. Nevertheless, it was social isolation that impeded her developmental process. The formation of a person’s character, abilities, behaviors, interests, and inclinations is determined by the social environment in which they live (Walker et al., 2019).
Children who grew up among animals, including Genie, are examples. Even after returning to the human community, she could never fully master human forms of behavior (Carroll, 2016). Having failed to regain her communication and social skills, Genie will forever remain in one of the clinics in California. On the contrary, graduates of the school for deaf-blind children, with whom psychologists and teachers used special methods, were able not only to master instrumental activity but also to realize themselves in full-fledged human behavior. While preserving their natural shortcomings, four of the graduates of this school graduated from the Faculty of Psychology and successfully engaged in scientific activities (Walker et al., 2019).
This shows that a person is brought up and grows up to be a full-fledged person only in a public environment. Only with its help does he master language, consciousness, culture, social behavior skills, and the ability to work and transform the world (Larsen et al., 2022). Without a doubt, certain biological inclinations and hereditary biological traits are inherent in man, as in any living being. Still, they are not only the result of biological evolution but also the consequence of several million years of social development.
Ethical Concerns
Doctors at the Hospital
Ethical concerns that the doctors at the hospital had were related to the need to choose between human and professional morality. Their professional duty was to study Genie’s behavioral characteristics (Walker et al., 2019). For several months, a team of doctors studied the child’s condition. Jean Butler, a psychologist participating in the experiment, believed that scientists’ efforts were aimed at studying the phenomenon of Genie and not at her speedy rehabilitation (Carroll, 2016).
A little later, the psychiatrist was even able to take the girl to her house, but the rest of the team opposed such a decision and excluded Butler from the group (Cronkite, 1944). At the same time, human duty dictated that doctors help Genie with social and psychological adaptation (Cronkite, 1944). However, this could affect the study results and violate the scientific integrity of the experiment.
Linguistics Coach
The linguistics coach had to choose between what the experiment prescribed and what was best for the girl. The experiment was designed to study how quickly Genie could learn to speak (Carroll, 2016). However, at the same time, she needed to establish faster communication with scientists.
To do this, it would be more expedient to teach her sign language. At the same time, the girl’s motivation to learn words would noticeably decrease, affecting the experiment’s purity (Cronkite, 1944). Thus, linguistics coaches, like doctors, faced the dilemma of choosing between human and professional duty.
Conclusion
The story of Genie Wiley is one of the most terrible cases of child abuse. The stories of children facing abuse are always particularly shocking. However, what happened to Genie divided the lives of most researchers into before and after. It also left a deep mark on the souls of not only those who were personally acquainted with the girl’s family but also strangers who learned about the monstrous case.
However, this case proves that the conditions in which it takes place are not indifferent to the formation of a person as a member of society. A person is born with a set of inherent biological traits as a certain biological species. However, a personality develops under the influence of society.
References
Carroll, R. (2016). Starved, tortured, forgotten: Genie, the feral child who left a mark on researchers. The Guardian. Web.
Cronkite, W. (Director). (1944). NOVA: Secret of the Wild Child [Film]. NOVA.
Larsen, L., Helland, M. S., & Holt, T. (2022). The impact of school closure and social isolation on children in vulnerable families during COVID-19: A focus on children’s reactions. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 31(1), 1-11. Web.
Walker, D. M., Cunningham, A. M., Gregory, J. K, & Nestler, E. J. (2019). Long-term behavioral effects of post-weaning social isolation in males and females. Frontiers, 13(1), 677-681. Web.