Genie: An Extreme Case of Socio-Emotional Privation

[unfortunatebeam]

her case doesn't prove that there's a critical limit for acquiring language. Genie's own innate capacity to learn from the day she was born could be reason. It was never fully concluded whether she was born mentally handicapped or not, if she did have mental retardation that would explain why it was harder for her to learn. Also she WAS speaking, not gramatically/syntactically correct, but she new some language. She stopped only after a bad experience in a foster home triggered a regression.

[DrugWhore1]

Nicely done :D, except for that annoying song :/

[Peace00282828]

Genie is the name given to her by carers. Genie is not her real name. Her real name has always remained private to protect her privacy.

Just thought to let you guys know.

[BabieRaiRai]

Good video. Very imformative.

I'm a psychology student and we had to watch this.

The only thing we thought was a bit odd about the video itself was the music was far too happy.

This story is horrific and I really wish things like this didn't happen but there is sadly nothing anyone can do. The worst thing is they stopped her money for the reseach so she had to go back to the mum and then back into care.

She'll die a lonely mute old woman

all because of her parents.

Its sick!

[sashami12390]

@BabieRaiRai yeah, i realize that too... but i didn't want to pair a sad or angry song with genie's story. i wanted the music to reflect a little hope =] at one point, genie was well taken care of... i felt she had that moment of love... i realize that my interpretation of the lyrics aren't really the same as everyone else... but i felt that sweet disposition best reflected that sentiment for me.

[JoNextDoor54]

Good Video, But Such A Sad Story :'(

[mrfuzzer1]

What do you mean once it closed. In her case she could talk somewhat. Yes this was a really sad case i agree. But to say you cant get anywhere with her is bogus. She learned lots of things and science have not given up.

[sashami12390]

@mrfuzzer1 i think the documentary meant to say that there is a critical window of development that occurs as an infant or an adolescent... genie was abandoned, and therefore she wasn't able to develop as well as she could have. the progress that was made after she was found proved that with therapy, it can slowly be remedied, but the therapy needed to be continuous, which it unfortunately was not, since funds ran out. it's sad that she couldn't be helped anymore just cuz of a lack of funding...

[leddobrasil]

please tell me her "parents" went to jail for life without parole...

in solitary preferably

[vousetesbelles]

@leddobrasil Genie's father was very domineering. When Genie was thirteen her mother brought her to authorities and almost immediately did her mental and physical development begin. Shortly after, Genie's father committed suicide. Her mother was never charged, and when Genie was eighteen she was even allowed back into her mother's care for a short time. Very sad story.

[GabrielKnightz]

The clip at 00:40 may i please know where you got that from, i saw the original documentary back in 1992 i think. Never could forget her.

I would be interested in seeing another version of it.

Kindly respond.

[sashami12390]

@GabrielKnightz i apologize for not documenting my sources better. I got the clip from another video here on youtube that didn't cite their source, so I can't tell you for sure where it's from. But I believe PBS's, "Secret of the Wild Child, " has a decent documentary on her. Again, I'm sorry I can't be a better help.

[GabrielKnightz]

@sashami12390 Yes thats the original early 1990s version, i dont know how much of a help this will be to you now but search for "Susan Wiley" if youd like to read more.

[sashami12390]

@GabrielKnightz thanks!



[mesfern]

@GabrielKnightz

That clip is from a 2007 National Geographic documentary, "My Brilliant Brain: Born Genius". I believe it's available here on youtube.

[Hopihe37]

always those damn FUNDS isn't it?? Run out of money and someone's life is down the tubes...no one could actually hold onto her.:((((

[sietepeo1]

the american try to hidden those cases because this is bad image for the "land of the free" country

[mosaicglass]

@sietepeo1

Is that why it is so well documented and there was a movie made about Genie? What the hell are you talking about?

[Ricine]

@sietepeo1

Americans are actually quite public about their affairs. We document a lot and put it out there for all to see.

[RockFFTW94]

PLEASE tell me the name of the song. tell me tell me tell me :(

[sashami12390]

@RockFFTW94 Sweet Disposition by the Temper Traps

[RockFFTW94]

@sashami12390 yeah :D thanks i kknow  silly me cuz i didnt read it before ... i was so desesperated :) but thanks for everything i love genie :') :( i wanna meet her

[RockFFTW94]

PLEASE tell me the name of the song. tell me tell me tell me :(

[lexichronicle2]

You'll notice in a lot of the videos the staff speak to her well above her verbal capacity. Mothers don't have logical conversations with their babies. And babies spend years making noises as they learn to use their vocal chords and shape words. If you listen to Genie speaking, it's evident she hadn't been allowed to do this; she can't pronounce things and has odd pitch / volume control. Expecting her to start forming sentences so rapidly was excessive.

[lexichronicle2]

I also find the results of the 'experiment' highly questionable. They drew a conclusion about language learning based essentially on the experience of one girl, who was being taught by one woman fresh out of university. I am confident more progress would have been made if she was looked after by an actual mother as her child. It's also possible the abuse highly biased her towards not wanting to learn.

[lexichronicle2]

I know Genie is now in a care home, aged 53, but I would like to know how she is. And really hope she's happy.

As some of you are pointing out, quite a few of those who claimed to love her must have had some other underlying agendas given what ended up happening to her, which was far from how she should have been treated.

The terrible irony being, the Genie team had specifically watched a movie about a child who was studied and ended up being discarded afterwards, and then repeated it.

[Hopihe37]

@lexichronicle2 BINGO!!!! You said it. It was Victor, I know. Can't anyone learn from the past and NOT repeat their mistakes? I have little faith in humanity.....I've been posing "how's Genie today?" questions all over.

[jody0savoie]

what a sad lonely life this poor child had to live. no one ever really cared for her, even jean butler who claimed to care for her and wanted to adopt her was using the child to gain fame. all children should be loved and nurtured, there is no reason for this. she was abused and treated like an animal when she should have been outside playing and growing into a young woman. she was passed from person to person being abused over and over.

[Hopihe37]

@jody0savoie from abuse to "use." She was repeatedly used over and over, since the actual physical abuse was over, but I see your point- both are forms of abuse.

[jesal21]

These slideshows in the middle of the documentary are annoying. Interesting case nonetheless. 

[HKTeeVee]

This is a good example of why the parent's "rights" shouldn't supersede the child's. I really don't understand how any judge could give this kid back to the mother who had allowed her to be so horrifically abused.

[LMA629]

it was the foster homes after the project stopped that made her speechless again. she was severely punished in one for vomiting (I don't know what they did to her- they probably beat her). so thus she was afraid to open her mouth after that in fear that she might vomit. :( poor girl

[JosieLily000]

it was privation not deprivation

[sashami12390]

@JosieLily000 sorry about that, our class never talked about the difference between the two. but thanks for the correction.

[lilmisswisebrown]

I have a psychology exam tomorrow and this video was very helpful thankyou for sharing it. my heart goes out to genie.

[sashami12390]

@lilmisswisebrown you're welcome! i'm glad this helped =]

[filmfelineadmin]

I'm sure he cared, but see the video - the other guys stepped in and took over EVERYTHING taking her home to live with him and his wife and Genie blossomed while in a normal home, but when the funding ended she was no longer wanted, point is they could have kept her w/ out the funding, instead, she went back to her mother, who eventually didn't care to keep her either. The system wants the kids in families, I don't believe they wouldn't try to contact EVERYONE before sticking her with fosters

[filmfelineadmin]

if u watch the video - the doctor who showed interest in her - who 'loved' her, didn't have an opportunity b/c the family who took her in basically TOOK OVER and all the other researchers were absolete, but when the funding was stoped, the family of the two doctors who took her in that COULD HAVE adopted her didn't. Even if the mother took her back the mother gave her up eventually to the system. The family could have taken her in. I don't belive the system would not have let them know.

[sashami12390]

@filmfelineadmin exactly, that's how she ended up moving from foster home to foster home... but that's true... i didn't think of it that way.... they could of used genie as that stepping stone to show that all these feral children can still be helped and that it's not too late to save them... i guess i was just trying to think positive and show that there was at least one person who really cared about her in one point in her life...

[filmfelineadmin]

Her case told science, that once reasonably large goverment checks stop comming, there is no one who claims to "love" the "subject" they once supposedly loved. Period. It was all about money to the family she lived with and they were accepting of her while the checks were coming. She didn't have to go back to her mother or back into the foster care system. She had a place to live, without money interest in the human being disolved. Five more years in decent learning care she could have LIVED

[sashami12390]

@filmfelineadmin Actually, i read somewhere that she developed a close relationship with one of the doctors, and that doctor even planned to adopt her. She wasn't completely a subject matter in this case. But her mother suddenly came back in the picture, took her away, and she got the same treatment as when they found her, thus failing to develop any more. She could no longer go back to the study because of the funds, and as you said, she could no longer live the life she could have lived.

[ysgirl1]

There is another video called Wild Child: The Story of Feral Children that includes Genie as well as other children who have suffered from socio-emotional deprivation or grew up without the benefit of social interaction with humans. The show is on TLC every once in a while.

[OmgzErica]

Secret of the wild child. That documentary goes over Genies case and also Victors.

[Lionstar16]

This video was really interesting to watch and very informative about the subject of socio-emotional deprivation . But I do have a question: in the video, there seemed to be footage from a documentary, what documentary was it?

[sashami12390]

@Lionstar16 i got the footage from @ptrlapp here on youtube. i believe its a NOVA documentary, but i'm probably wrong. i'm sorry i don't have anything more specific. The documentary was about feral children though.

[wreckingball007]

@Lionstar16 I had completely forgotten about this poor child.....but I did watch a documentary about her on television,years ago.I'll look into it.