Feral Children
Susan ‘Genie’ Wiley:
Born 1957 in Arcadia, California Genie was the victim of one of the most severe cases of neglect and abuse ever to be heard of. For most of her thirteen years of life she was strapped to a children’s potty with her arms and legs immobilised, or locked in a metal cage.
Genie was raised in social insolation by her abusive Father, Clark Wiley. Clark lacked natural love as both his parents were not fully involved in his bringing; his Mother ran a brothel and his Father died of a lightning strike. The abandonment of his mother caused a large resentment towards her, and the death of his father meant he lived in multiple orphanages. The abandonment from Clark’s parents could have been the initial source of his …show more content…
The first child was said to have died at 2 months old after her cries prompted Clark, to wrap her in a receiving blanket and leave her in a bureau drawer in the garage. The second child died shortly after birth. The third child, John Wiley, was taken away from the ‘family’ home at four years old by his grandmother after she claimed that Clark was an unfit Father. Unfortunately John’s grandmother died in a hit and run accident so John was forced to move back ‘home’ with his parents. John was frequently hit, was ordered by his Father to be the family’s guard and sworn to secrecy never to speak to Genie as well as never leave the house. After escaping from the family home years later with his Mother, John had many mental issues surrounding the abuse of Genie and himself but John never received proper treatment. After Genie was discovered both her parents were taken into custody and charges were filed against them, but on the day of the trial her Father shot himself leaving a note quoting “the world will never …show more content…
Curtiss knew Genie from multiple news reports so gladly accepted to work with her. At the time Curtiss was a graduate and tended to work with children with language impairments and studies the reasons why they have a different development compared with normal developing children. Susan educated Genie and taught her how to speak.
As a child I was lucky enough to be brought up overwhelmed with love and affection. Compared to Genie’s case I had a Mother that taught me how to walk and talk amongst multiple other skills. My life consisted of sports, days out and spending a lot of time with people my own age and family. (relate to my life)
In the 1860’s an American psychologist Harry Harlow did a social isolation experiment on rhesus monkeys. He discovered that Mothers are an important part of a child’s development. Harlow chose to investigate whether the baby monkeys would prefer cold bare wire mothers with a bottle of food or warm cloth covered mothers with nothing. Although the cold bare wired mothers provided nourishment, all of the monkeys in the experiment went to the mother with the soft warm comforter. It was obvious that the blanket had physical stimulation and provided the care that the baby monkey needed for healthy
Susan ‘Genie’ Wiley:
Born 1957 in Arcadia, California Genie was the victim of one of the most severe cases of neglect and abuse ever to be heard of. For most of her thirteen years of life she was strapped to a children’s potty with her arms and legs immobilised, or locked in a metal cage.
Genie was raised in social insolation by her abusive Father, Clark Wiley. Clark lacked natural love as both his parents were not fully involved in his bringing; his Mother ran a brothel and his Father died of a lightning strike. The abandonment of his mother caused a large resentment towards her, and the death of his father meant he lived in multiple orphanages. The abandonment from Clark’s parents could have been the initial source of his …show more content…
The first child was said to have died at 2 months old after her cries prompted Clark, to wrap her in a receiving blanket and leave her in a bureau drawer in the garage. The second child died shortly after birth. The third child, John Wiley, was taken away from the ‘family’ home at four years old by his grandmother after she claimed that Clark was an unfit Father. Unfortunately John’s grandmother died in a hit and run accident so John was forced to move back ‘home’ with his parents. John was frequently hit, was ordered by his Father to be the family’s guard and sworn to secrecy never to speak to Genie as well as never leave the house. After escaping from the family home years later with his Mother, John had many mental issues surrounding the abuse of Genie and himself but John never received proper treatment. After Genie was discovered both her parents were taken into custody and charges were filed against them, but on the day of the trial her Father shot himself leaving a note quoting “the world will never …show more content…
Curtiss knew Genie from multiple news reports so gladly accepted to work with her. At the time Curtiss was a graduate and tended to work with children with language impairments and studies the reasons why they have a different development compared with normal developing children. Susan educated Genie and taught her how to speak.
As a child I was lucky enough to be brought up overwhelmed with love and affection. Compared to Genie’s case I had a Mother that taught me how to walk and talk amongst multiple other skills. My life consisted of sports, days out and spending a lot of time with people my own age and family. (relate to my life)
In the 1860’s an American psychologist Harry Harlow did a social isolation experiment on rhesus monkeys. He discovered that Mothers are an important part of a child’s development. Harlow chose to investigate whether the baby monkeys would prefer cold bare wire mothers with a bottle of food or warm cloth covered mothers with nothing. Although the cold bare wired mothers provided nourishment, all of the monkeys in the experiment went to the mother with the soft warm comforter. It was obvious that the blanket had physical stimulation and provided the care that the baby monkey needed for healthy