Nature Vs Nurture Debate

The “nature versus nurture” debate started around the 1800s, just when sociology was recognized as a part of science. It is still a highly controversial topic that questions whether human behavior is basic instincts, predetermined by genetics or is slowly molded by each individual’s environment and social interactions. It has been discussed and concluded many times by biologists, sociologists, and psychologists, each with their own opinion. A brief explanation of “nature vs nurture” is that scientists have known that traits such as eye color, hair color, and skin tone are determined by specific genes encoded in our DNA. The “Nature” theory takes things a step further to say that more abstract traits such as behavior, habits, personality, intelligence,

Without proper socialization, humans cannot learn to behave appropriately to fit into society. Feral children are the results of children that are deprived of social interaction with other humans. Genie Wiley is considered a “feral child”, who was the victim of extraordinarily neglect, severe abuse, and social isolation. Genie's father decided to isolate her as much as possible, so for 13 years, he kept her locked alone in a room. During this time, she was strapped to a child's toilet or bound in a crib with her arms and legs completely immobilized. When she was rescued, she was severely malnourished. The extent of Genie's isolation prevented her from being exposed to any significant amount of speech, and as a result she did not acquire language during childhood. Her abuse came to the attention of Los Angeles child welfare authorities in 1970. A government team of linguists, psychologists and other scientists was created to study and help Genie adapt. As time went on, Genie made substantial advances with her overall mental development. Genie had developed excellent nonverbal communication skills, and she had the consistent ability to nonverbally express her emotions and desires. She became much more willing to interact with other people, and gradually developed some friendships and basic social skills. However, by the time the study ended, Genie still had many behaviors constant of other unsocialized individuals. Although, Genie’s non-verbal communication was consistent, her verbal communication skills stalled, and she wasn’t able to acquire a first language. Sadly, when the study was over, Genie was bounced from home to home, overall damaging the progress that she had made.(