Genie (feral child)

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Genie

Genie displaying her characteristic "bunny walk" shortly after

she was rescued at the age of 13.
April 18, 1957 (age 53)
Born
Arcadia, California
Nationality United States
Known for Feral child

Genie is the pseudonym for a feral child who spent nearly all of the first thirteen years of her life
locked inside a bedroom strapped to a potty chair. She was a victim of one of the most severe
cases of social isolation in American history. Genie was discovered by Los Angeles authorities
on November 4, 1970.

Genie's discovery was compared extensively with that of Victor of Aveyron, about whom a film
was made, The Wild Child. Psychologists, linguists and other scientists exhibited great interest in
the case due to its perceived ability to reveal insights into the development of language and
linguistic critical periods. Initially cared for in the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Genie later
became the subject of acrimonious debate over where and with whom she should eventually live,
moving between the houses of the researchers who studied her, to foster homes, to her mother's
house, and finally to a sheltered home for adults with disabilities in California. Funding and
research interest in her abilities eventually ceased. In 1994 a book was written about her case by
Russ Rymer.

Contents
[hide]
 • 1 Early history
o 1.1 Parents and child abuse
o 1.2 Rescue
o 1.3 Characteristics and personality
• 2 First foster home
• 3 Second foster home
• 4 Loss of funds and interest
• 5 Later childhood
• 6 Present condition
• 7 See also
• 8 Notes
• 9 References

• 10 External links

[edit] Early history

[edit] Parents and child abuse

Genie's parents lived in Arcadia, California. Genie was their fourth (and second surviving) child
and had an older brother who also lived in the home.[1]

Genie spent the next 12 years of her life locked in her bedroom. During the day, she was tied to a
child's potty chair in diapers; some nights, when she hadn't been completely forgotten, she was
bound in a sleeping bag and placed in an enclosed crib with a cover made of metal screening.
Indications are that Genie's father beat her with a large stick if she vocalized, and he barked and
growled at her like a dog in order to keep her quiet. He also rarely allowed his wife and son to
leave the house or even to speak, and he expressly forbade them to speak to Genie. By the age of
13, Genie was almost entirely mute, commanding a vocabulary of about 20 words and a few
short phrases (nearly all negative, such as "stop it" and "no more").[2]

[edit] Rescue

Genie was discovered at the age of 13 when her mother left her husband and took Genie with
her. On November 4, 1970, the two entered a welfare office in Temple City, California, to seek
benefits for the blind. A social worker met them and guessed that Genie was 6 or 7 years old and
possibly autistic. When it was revealed that she was actually 13, the social worker immediately
called her supervisor, who then notified the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.[3]

Genie had developed a characteristic "bunny walk", in which she held her hands up in front, like
paws. Although she was almost entirely silent, she constantly sniffed, spat, and clawed. Many of
the items she coveted were objects with which she could play.[4] In spite of her condition,
hospital staff hoped they could nurture her to normality. When interest in the case widened,
Genie became the focus of an investigation to provide evidence supporting the theory that
humans have a critical age threshold for language acquisition.[2] Within a few months of therapy,
she had advanced to one-word answers and had learned to dress herself. Her doctors predicted
complete success. Doctors screened François Truffaut's movie The Wild Child for ideas. Genie
was initially moved out of the hospital to the home of Jean Butler, and later was moved to live
with psychologist David Rigler, his wife and children, where she remained for four years.[2]

[edit] Characteristics and personality

Though initially nearly silent, Genie later learned to vocalize and express herself through sign
language. Provided with few toys or objects to stimulate her, the majority of her time was spent
in a dark room staring at a yellow plastic raincoat. After her rescue, attempts were made to help
her speak and socialize. Her demeanor changed considerably, and she became sociable with
adults she was familiar with. Colorful plastic objects became her favorite objects to collect and
play with, and she demonstrated a deep fascination with classical music played on the piano (one
of the neighboring children practiced piano regularly, and this was speculated to be the source of
her fascination as it was one of very few sensations available to her). Genie developed
remarkable nonverbal communication skills; repeatedly she and her caretakers were approached
by strangers who would, without being asked, spontaneously give Genie gifts or possessions in
which she exhibited an interest.[2]

[edit] First foster home

Jean Butler was Genie's teacher at Children's Hospital. Butler became Genie's foster parent by
accident or by, as members of the Genie team suspected, a scheme that Butler concocted to allow
Genie to stay with her. Butler claimed that she herself had a rash that was likely measles, and
thus when Genie had visited her home, Genie may have contracted it. Genie was moved to
Butler's home with the initial intent of a temporary quarantine, but the stay became prolonged
when Butler petitioned to make it permanent. Butler became very protective of Genie and
resisted visits by other members of the Genie team including Susan Curtiss and James Kent.[3]

Butler's personal journal recorded concern that Genie was taxed too greatly by the Genie team
and experiments; however,[3] Butler didn't hide the fact that she hoped Genie would help make
her famous. According to Curtiss, Butler frequently stated that she was "going to be the next
Anne Sullivan." Her true intentions may never be known because she died in 1988, but many
members of the Genie team claimed genuine affection for Genie and an overwhelming desire to
"rescue" her.[citation needed]

Butler did, however, continue the essential practice of observing and documenting Genie's
behavior while in her home. One such behavior Butler documented was Genie's practice of
hoarding, a behavior typical of children who have been moved from abusive homes. When
Butler applied to be Genie's legal foster parent, she was rejected.[3]

[edit] Second foster home

Genie returned to the hospital and was handed over to a new foster parent, therapist David
Rigler. His wife, Marilyn, became Genie's new teacher. Marilyn found the need to teach Genie
unconventional lessons, for example, in anger management. Genie would go into a fit of rage and
act out against herself, so Marilyn taught Genie to "rage" through jumping, slamming doors,
stomping her feet and generally "having a fit." Marilyn noted that Genie had a stronger command
of vocabulary than most children acquiring language. During this period Genie was even able to
discuss her years of abuse:[3]

Marilyn Rigler: Where did you stay when you lived at home? Where did you live?
Where did you sleep?
Genie: Potty chair.
Marilyn Rigler: You slept in the potty chair?
Genie: Mmm-hmm. Potty chair.[3]

She stayed with the Rigler family for the next four years. During that period she began to learn
some language, and the Riglers arranged for her to learn sign language. She also learned to
smile. If she could not express herself in language, she would try to communicate by drawing
pictures.[2][3]

[edit] Loss of funds and interest

Despite Genie's relative success, the National Institute of Mental Health, which had funded the
project, grew concerned about the lack of scientific research data generated, as well as the
unprofessional manner in which records were being kept. In 1974, the Institute cut off funding
for the research. The following year the Riglers decided to discontinue their foster parenting.
Genie had not yet learned full grammatical English and only went so far as phrases like
"Applesauce buy store."[3]

[edit] Later childhood

In 1975, Genie was returned to the custody of her mother, who wished to care for her daughter.
After a few months, the mother found that taking care of Genie was too difficult, and Genie was
transferred to a succession of six more foster homes. In some of the homes she was physically
abused and harassed, and her development regressed severely. She returned to her coping
mechanism of silence and gained a new fear of opening her mouth. This new fear developed
after she was severely punished for vomiting in one of her foster homes; she didn't want to open
her mouth, even to speak, for fear of vomiting and facing punishment again.[3]

The original research team heard nothing more about Genie until her mother sued them for
excessive and outrageous testing and claimed the researchers gave testing priority over Genie's
welfare, pushing her beyond the limits of her endurance. According to ABC News, the suit was
settled in 1984.[5] However, in a 1993 letter to the New York Times, Dr. Riger wrote, "The case
never came to trial. It was dismissed by the Superior Court of the State of California "with
prejudice," meaning that because it was without substance it can never again be refiled."
[edit] Present condition
Genie now lives in a sheltered accommodation in an undisclosed location in Southern California;
it is at least her sixth adult foster home. Her mother died in 2003.[1]

An independent film titled Mockingbird Don't Sing is based on Genie's life.

[edit] See also

• Victor of Aveyron

[edit] Notes
1. ^ a b Donaldson-James, S (2008-05-19). "Raised by a Tyrant, Suffering a Sibling's Abuse:
John Wiley's Life May Foretell the Brutal, Lonely Future for Austrian Family".
ABCnews. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4873347&page=1. Retrieved 2009-
02-12.
2. ^ a b c d e Rymer, R (1994). Genie: a scientific tragedy. New York: Harper Perennial.
ISBN 0-06-092465-9.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Secret of the Wild Child" (document transcript). NOVA. 1997-03-04.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2112gchild.html. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
4. ^ Curtiss, S (1977). Genie: a psycholinguistic study of a modern-day "wild child".
Boston: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-196350-0.
5. ^ James, SD (2008-05-07). "Wild Child Speechless After Tortured Life". ABCnews.com.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4804490&page=1. Retrieved 2009-02-12.

[edit] References
• Rymer, Russ (1992-04-13). "I-A Silent Childhood". The New Yorker: pp. 41. abstract
• Rymer, Russ (1992-04-20). "II-A Silent Childhood". The New Yorker: pp. 43. abstract
• Pines, Maya (September 1981). "The Civilizing of Genie". Psychology Today 15: 28–34.
http://kccesl.tripod.com/genie.html.
• Jones, P.E. (July 1995). "Contradictions and unanswered questions in the Genie case: a
fresh look at the linguistic evidence". Language and Communication (Elsevier) 15 (3):
261–280. doi:10.1016/0271-5309(95)00007-D.
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/pager.php?df=jones1995.

[edit] External links

• Letter from David Rigler to The New York Times from 1993 about Genie and the review
of Russ Rymer's book

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child)"

Categories: American children | Feral children | Children kept in captivity | People from the San
Gabriel Valley | 1957 births | Living people

A feral child (feral, wild, or undomesticated) is a human child who has lived isolated from
human contact from a very young age, and has no (or little) experience of human care, loving or
social behavior, and, crucially, of human language.[1] Some feral children have been confined by
people (usually their own parents); in some cases this child abandonment was due to the parents'
rejection of a child's severe intellectual or physical impairment. Feral children may have
experienced severe child abuse or trauma before being abandoned or running away. Others are
alleged to have been brought up by animals; some are said to have lived in the wild on their own.
Over one hundred cases of supposedly feral children are known.[2]

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Legends
• 2 Reality
• 3 Ancient reports
• 4 Controversy and criticism
• 5 Documented/alleged cases
o 5.1 1300s to 1800s
o 5.2 1900s
o 5.3 2000s
• 6 See also
• 7 References and notes
• 8 Bibliography

• 9 External links

[edit] Legends
Main article: List of feral children in mythology and fiction

Myths, legends, and fictional stories have depicted feral children reared by wild animals such as
wolves and bears. Famous examples include Ibn Tufail's Hayy, Ibn al-Nafis' Kamil, Rudyard
Kipling's Mowgli, Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan, and the legends of Atalanta, Enkidu and
Romulus and Remus.

Legendary and fictional feral children are often depicted as growing up with relatively normal
human intelligence and skills and an innate sense of culture or civilization, coupled with a
healthy dose of survival instincts; their integration into human society is made to seem relatively
easy. One notable exception is Mowgli, for whom living with humans proved to be extremely
difficult.

These mythical children are often depicted as having superior strength, intelligence and morals
compared to "normal" humans, the implication being that because of their upbringing they
represent humanity in a pure and uncorrupted state: similar to the noble savage.

The subject is treated with a certain amount of realism in François Truffaut's 1970 film L'Enfant
Sauvage (UK: The Wild Boy, US: The Wild Child), where a scientist's efforts in trying to
rehabilitate a feral boy meet with great difficulty.

[edit] Reality
In reality, feral children lack the basic social skills which are normally learned in the process of
enculturation. For example, they may be unable to learn to use a toilet, have trouble learning to
walk upright and display a complete lack of interest in the human activity around them. They
often seem mentally impaired and have almost insurmountable trouble learning a human
language. The impaired ability to learn language after having been isolated for so many years is
often attributed to the existence of a critical period for language learning, and taken as evidence
in favor of the Critical Period Hypothesis[3].

There is little scientific knowledge about feral children. One of the best-known examples, the
"detailed diaries" of Reverend Singh who claimed to have discovered Amala and Kamala (two
girls who had been "brought up from birth by wolves") in a forest in India, has been proven a
fraud to obtain funds for his orphanage. Bruno Bettelheim states that Amala and Kamala were
born mentally and physically disabled.[4]

[edit] Ancient reports

Herodotus, the historian, wrote that Egyptian pharaoh Psammetichus I (Psamtik) sought to
discover the origin of language by conducting an experiment with two children. Allegedly, he
gave two newborn babies to a shepherd, with the instructions that no one should speak to them,
but that the shepherd should feed and care for them while listening to determine their first words.
The hypothesis was that the first word would be uttered in the root language of all people. When
one of the children cried "becos" (a sound quite similar to the bleating of sheep) with
outstretched arms the shepherd concluded that the word was Phrygian because that was the
sound of the Phrygian word for bread. Thus, they concluded that the Phrygians were an older
people than the Egyptians.[5]
The Capitoline Wolf suckling Romulus and Remus

Roman legend has it that Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Rhea Silvia and Mars, were raised
by wolves. Rhea Silvia was a priestess, and when it was found that she had been pregnant and
had had children, the local King Amulius ordered her to be buried alive and for the children to be
killed. The servant who was given the order set them in a basket on the Tiber river instead and
the children were taken by Tiberinus, the river god, to the shore where a she-wolf found them
and raised them until they were discovered as toddlers by a shepherd named Faustulus. He and
his wife Acca Larentia, who had always wanted a child but never had one, raised the twins, who
would later figure prominently in the events leading up to the founding of Rome (named after
Romulus, who eventually killed Remus in a fight over whether the city should be founded on the
Palatine Hill or the Aventine Hill).[6]

[edit] Controversy and criticism

Kaspar Hauser

Following the 2008 disclosure by Belgian newspaper Le Soir[7] that the bestselling book Misha:
A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years and movie Survivre avec les loups (Survival with Wolves) was
a media hoax, the French media debated the credulity with which numerous cases of feral
children have been blindly accepted. Though there are numerous books on these children, almost
none of them have been based on archives, the authors instead using rather dubious second or
third-hand printed information. According to the French surgeon Serge Aroles, who wrote a
general study of feral children based on archives (L'Enigme des Enfants-loups or The Enigma of
Wolf-children, 2007), many cases are scandalous swindles or totally fictitious stories.