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Feb 23, 2024 · The Wiley’s second baby died of a congenital defect, and then came along Genie Wiley and her brother John. While her brother also faced their father’s abuse, it was nothing compared to Susan’s suffering.
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There have been a number of cases of feral children raised in social isolation with little or no human contact. Few have captured public and scientific attention like that of a young girl called Genie Wiley. She spent almost her entire childhood locked in a bedroom, isolated and abused for over a decade.
Genie's case was one of the first to put the critical period theory to the test. Could a child reared in utter deprivation and isolation develop language? Could a nurturing environment make up for a horrifying past?
This article discusses Genie's life, her treatment, and the impact that abuse and deprivation had on her language development. It also covers the ethical problems with her case.
Early Life (1957-1970)
Genie's life prior to her discovery was one of utter deprivation. She spent most of her days tied naked to a potty chair, only able to move her hands and feet. When she made noise, her father would beat her. The rare times her father did interact with her, it was to bark or growl. Genie Wiley's brother, who was five years older than Genie, also suffered abuse under their father.
Discovery and Study (1970-1975)
Genie's story came to light on November 4, 1970, in Los Angeles, California. A social worker discovered the 13-year old girl after her mother sought out services for her own health. The social worker soon discovered that the girl had been confined to a small room, and an investigation by authorities quickly revealed that the child had spent most of her life in this room, often tied to a potty chair. A Genie Wiley documentary was made in 1997 called "Secrets of the Wild Child." In it, Susan Curtiss, PhD, a linguist and researcher who worked with Genie, explained that the name Genie was used in case files to protect the girl's identity and privacy.
Susan Curtiss, PhD
"The case name is Genie. This is not the person's real name, but when we think about what a genie is, a genie is a creature that comes out of a bottle or whatever but emerges into human society past childhood. We assume that it really isn't a creature that had a human childhood.” — Susan Curtiss, PhD Both parents were charged with abuse, but Genie's father died by suicide the day before he was due to appear in court, leaving behind a note stating that "the world will never understand." The story of Genie's case soon spread, drawing attention from both the public and the scientific community. The case was important, said psycholinguist and author Harlan Lane, PhD, because "our morality doesn’t allow us to conduct deprivation experiments with human beings; these unfortunate people are all we have to go on." With so much interest in her case, the question became what should be done to help her. A team of psychologists and language experts began the process of rehabilitating Genie. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) provided funding for scientific research on Genie’s case. Psychologist David Rigler, PhD, was part of the "Genie team" and he explained the process.
Part of the reason why Genie's case fascinated psychologists and linguists so deeply was that it presented a unique opportunity to study a hotly contested debate about language development.
Essentially, it boils down to the age-old nature versus nurture debate. Does genetics or environment play a greater role in the development of language?
There are many ethical concerns surrounding Genie's story. Arguments among those in charge of Genie's care and rehabilitation reflect some of these concerns.
"If you want to do rigorous science, then Genie's interests are going to come second some of the time. If you only care about helping Genie, then you wouldn't do a lot of the scientific research," suggested psycholinguist Harlan Lane in the NOVA documentary focused on her life.
In Genie's case, the role of researcher and therapist were combined in one person. While Genie's story may be studied for its implications in our understanding of language acquisition and development, it is also a case that will continue to be studied over its serious ethical issues.
"I think future generations are going to study Genie's case not only for what it can teach us about human development but also for what it can teach us about the rewards and the risks of conducting 'the forbidden experiment,'" Lane explained.
Genie Wiley's story perhaps leaves us with more questions than answers. Though it was difficult for Genie to learn language, she was able to communicate through body language, music, and art once she was in a safe home environment. Unfortunately, we don't know what her progress could have been had adequate care not been taken away from her.
Genie's story raises questions about how we can better address the needs of child abuse survivors, as well as how we can learn from them without exploiting their cases or disrupting their care.
6 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
1.Collection of research materials related to linguistic-psychological studies of Genie (pseudonym) (collection 800). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
2.Schoneberger T. Three myths from the language acquisition literature. Anal Verbal Behav. 2010;26(1):107–131. doi:10.1007/bf03393086
There is little information about Genie's early life, but available records indicate that for her first months she displayed relatively normal development. Her mother later recalled that she was not a cuddly baby, did not babble much, and resisted solid food.
Her mother, Irene Wiley, diagnosed with cataracts and nearly blind, was allowed very limited interactions with Genie. Her elder brother, who was terrified of their father, became Genie’s caretaker, feeding her only baby food, cereal, and milk, which he did without talking to her, per their father’s instructions.
Jan 24, 2022 · Genie’s father, Clark Wiley, never wanted to have children, but after marrying Irene Oglesby, the children came – and died. Their first baby died after being left in a cold garage and the second from birth complications.
Sep 13, 2023 · Genie was a child who was born healthy, but raised in an environment with severe neglect and abuse. Due to this, she was unable to learn how to speak and function in society. Genie is used as an example of feral child syndrome and has been studied in developmental psychology.
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Nov 25, 2017 · Clark Wiley believed that his daughter was mentally disabled and decided to lock her away, never allowing Genie’s mother and brother to speak a word to her. The perpetually hungry child was mostly given baby food, cereal, eggs, and water.
