Genie Wiley: The Wild Child

Genie Wiley: The Wild Child

Susan “Genie” Wiley was discovered on November 4, 1970 when her mother, who was nearly blind, sought public assistance in Temple City, California after escaping from her abusive husband. When she was discovered she could not talk and had a “bunny-like” walk. She was starved, tortured, and forgotten. She was given the name Genie to protect her privacy (McMahan 2014).

Genie Wiley was born on March 11, 1952, the third child born to Clark and Dorothy Wiley. The first child died after Clark wrapped the infant in a blanket and left her in a dresser drawer in their garage. The second child died two days after his birth because he choked on mucus. Their third child, John Gray Wiley, went to live with Clark’s mother at four years old after his own mother was institutionalized. However, he returned years later after his grandma was Clark Wiley was teased ruthlessly as a child and was raised in a bordello (“Genie Wiley”).

The early life of Genie was horrific. When Genie was only twenty months old Clark Wiley was told that his daughter could possibly be mentally retarded. He took this news seriously and locked his daughter in a dark room in their house. The room was located at the back of the house and the windows were covered with aluminum foil.

This prevented neighbors from seeing and the sunshine from coming in (“Genie Wiley”). She spent that majority of her time tied up to a portable toilet or a “potty chair”. Most of the time she would have to eat and sleep on the portable toilet as well. She did have a crib as a bed but was rarely allowed to sleep in it. The crib was wrapped in chicken wire. Genie suffered from her father’s abuse for thirteen years before she was discovered. She had the physical development of an eight year old and was only fifty nine pounds (“Susan ‘Genie’ Wiley”).
After Genie was discovered she was admitted at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, California. She was used as a case study to study the consequences of harsh social isolation. Her case brought a lot of controversy. Eventually, with a lot of work from doctors and specialists Genie learned sign language and a few words. It was enough for her to communicate. However, the government quite funding the project in the fall of 1974 because it was believed to be a failure. Genie was then placed in several different foster homes. Despite the doctors and researchers best efforts, Genie was abused in many of the foster homes she was placed in. Genie was able to communicate to the doctors to explain the abuse she suffered from in foster care. However, to this day she still cannot speak due to the damage from foster parents. Eventually, the research team decided to let Genie’s mother have custody of her once again. Her mother took her back to live in the home she grew up in. This did not go well either. Now, Genie lives in an adult care home but nothing more is known (“The Shocking Story of Genie, a Child Raised in Isolation”).
Socialization is crucial from an early age. From the first few months to the first few years every person that the child comes in contact with (typically family) will leave an impact on them. Eventually, when the child is a toddler they will start developing their own personality. In Genie’s case she had no body around her so she had no model to follow. She also did not go through other crucial stages of socialization such as role playing and cognitive development (Why is it important for children to learn socialization skills and how can teachers and parents facilitate this learning?). The main impacts of socialization are family, school, mass media, and the peer group. Genie suffered without any of them. We can see the major importance of socialization and the consequences through Genie. Without socialization a person would not be able to talk, express emotions or even interact with other people. Without socialization we would not be able to form societies or cultures either (Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Brief Edition, v. 1.0).
The case of Genie Wiley clearly proves that socialization is important. When she was discovered she could not talk, and she could barely walk. Genie also did not know how to interact with other people or objects. For example, when a researcher rolled a ball to Genie she did not respond to the ball. She would not pick it up or kick it like any other normal kid would. She also did not express emotions ("Starved, tortured, forgotten: Genie, the feral child who left a mark on researchers"). It is obvious that Genie was affected by lack of socialization. If every person was deprived of socialization like Genie was we would not be able to form a society, we would act like animals.
There are many different contrasting sociological theories. First, we will talk about John B. Watson’s approach. Watson developed a theory called behaviorism. This theory stated that behavior is not instinctive but learned and is rooted in nurture not nature (“Behaviorist Approach”). With this approach, Genie should be capable of rehabilitation because with nurture she should be able to learn how to behave. The next theory belongs to Harry and Margaret Harlow. This couple did a study on monkeys and discovered they could recover from up to three months of isolation. However, after six months of isolation they would suffer from irreversible emotional and behavioral damage (“Harry Harlow and the Nature of Love”). From the Harlow’s conclusion Genie would not be capable of rehabilitation because she was in isolation for much longer than six months. The last sociological theory we will evaluate is Sigmund Freud’s. He developed the theory of psychoanalysis which states that humans have two basic needs at birth: the need for bonding and an aggressive drive called the “death instinct” (“Sigmund Freud Theories”). Based on Freud’s theory Genie will suffer her whole life because she did not have bonding from birth yet she had a need for it. There are many more sociological theories than the ones mentioned above, each differing with sociologists opinions.
According to leading sociological theories, there were many issues in Genie’s social development.

Although each sociological theory differs, the central issue is clear. John B. Watson would claim the biggest issues are that she had no example to learn from and that she was not nurtured (“Behaviorist Approach”). Many other sociologists would agree a dominant issue was lack of nurture. Harry and Margaret Harlow would argue the main issue was that Genie was in isolation for so long, which relates to lack of nurture as well (“Harry Harlow and the Nature of Love”). Sigmund Freud would agree with the other sociologists because he believed Genie needed bonding (or nurture) since birth (“Sigmund

Freud”).
After being isolated for so many years it is inevitable that Genie Wiley suffered sociological damage. Her life for the first thirteen years was horrific. After seeing the impact of isolation, it is now clear to see how important socialization is. Even though Genie had a team of the best doctors, therapists and sociologists she was never able to recover completely.