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View Full Version : THe most severe case of child isolation in history



SweetSecrets
02-23-2005, 12:11 PM
I'm currently doing some research on the early brain development of children, and whether or not the sensitive periods in a child's life can actually become critical periods in which the effects of isolation or deprivation become irreversable, even when the child is placed in the appropriate loving atmosphere.

During my study, I was quite disgusted by the horrifying story of a little girl named, Genie.

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"She was kept locked in her room by herself, beginning before her second birthday (Curtis, 1997). For more than 11 years, Genie spent her days chained to a potty and her nights tied up in a sleeping bag. No one spoke to her. When her father came to tie her in for the night or to bring her food, he growled at her like a beast and scratched her with his fingernails. Genie was a pitiful creature when she was liberated from these horrible circumstances. Although she was 13 years old, she weighed only 59 pounds and was only 4 feet, 6 inches tall. She dd not make intelligible sounds and was not toilet trained. She could not walk normally; instead, she shuffled her feet and swayed from side to side. Remarkably, a battery of psychological tests revealed that Genie had an amazing ability to perceive and think about spatial relationships even though she had little to look at in her room. (The Develpment of Children fifth edition, 2005)"
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So, we really can't complain about the shitty things that happened in our childhoods! Things could be worse! How resilient are you?

http://kccesl.tripod.com/genie.html

Rikk
02-23-2005, 12:14 PM
Holy fuck!

I can't support the death penalty...so I guess I would just say that father deserves eternity in an isolation cell with no human contact ever again.

Fucking awful.

Carmine
02-23-2005, 12:16 PM
How can someone do that to a child?

chain that prick to a toilet and wrap him in a sleeping bag for 11 years!!

..then shoot him!

Jesterstar
02-23-2005, 12:19 PM
The Federal Government and Scientists across the world have done exsperiments like this for years. Mainly on Orphans.

nosuchluck
02-23-2005, 12:20 PM
disgusting. heard a similar story about a boy who was kept locked in a closet for most of his childhood.
i think he managed to escape when he was 11.

SweetSecrets
02-23-2005, 12:31 PM
What is even sadder, is her life now.


Apparently following the incident, scientists fought over her custody so they could do tests her language and cognitive resiliency. She bounced from one scientists house to another following her liberation.
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"Genie lived in the Rigler household for four years. During that time she was treated as much as possible like a member of the family. SHe was taught how to chew solid food, to behave properly at the table, to express her emotions and indicate her desires appropriately, and to stop masterbating, which she had been doing whenever and whereever she felt the urge to. But she was also being constantly observed and tested by linguists and psychologists. Within a short time after her move to the Rigler's home, Genie's progress in language learning slowed to a standstill. Her speech resembled that language used in telegrams. She never learned to ask a real question or to form a proper negative sentence. Nor did she learn to behave normally in social situations. Scientists at the National Institutes of Mental Health, which sponsored the research on Genie, became dissatisfied with the project. Largely because it was a single case study based on anecdotal evidence and no controls were possible, they denied further funding of her study...

When the project ended, Genie was returned to her mother's custody. Her mother could not cope with Genie's disabilities and placed her in foster care. She is now resideing in a home for mentally retarded adults in Southern California. Overall, her behavior has significantly regressed. She is stooped and rarely makes eye contact. She cannot talk normally and continues to engage in inappropriate social behaviors...

Rigler and his collegues chose to focus on Genie's language deprivation rather than on any of the other major domains of development. What if they had instead followed the lead of research on recovery from severe isolation? Would Genie have recovered more fully if they had provided her with social therapy emphasizing attachment and loving relations with others? (The Development of Children fifth Edition, 2005)."

SweetSecrets
02-23-2005, 12:33 PM
Originally posted by Jesterstar
The Federal Government and Scientists across the world have done exsperiments like this for years. Mainly on Orphans.

MOst of the research on orphans' recovery from deprivation show remarkable "catch-up" effects in the areas of language and cognitive development once children are placed into stable and loving families. However, the picture is more clouded in the case of social and emotional development, even when the orphanage is judged to be of good quality.

franksters
02-23-2005, 12:36 PM
i'd like to see his face and to see her as well..

Jesterstar
02-23-2005, 12:40 PM
Originally posted by SweetSecrets
MOst of the research on orphans' recovery from deprivation show remarkable "catch-up" effects in the areas of language and cognitive development once children are placed into stable and loving families. However, the picture is more clouded in the case of social and emotional development, even when the orphanage is judged to be of good quality.

Those are defined traits. Speaking from a scientific perspective. They have nothing to do with the human soul. There are many exsperiments and research studies done beyond anything that could be declassified. More horrific than the attrocities at Auswitz or anything like that. They still go on today.

Northern Girl
02-23-2005, 12:48 PM
It is crazy that this could go on without anyone knowing. He must have been pretty isolated himself. And where was the mother for 11 years?

academic punk
02-23-2005, 01:04 PM
[QUOTE]Originally posted by SweetSecrets
[B]
Apparently following the incident, scientists fought over her custody so they could do tests her language and cognitive resiliency. She bounced from one scientists house to another following her liberation.

Doesn't sound like too much of a "liberation", does it?

The phrasing "inappropriate social behaviour" is, actually, inappropriate here.

It's pparent she had no upbringing other than primary process: meaning, can she be blamed for masterbating, which is an instinctual response to her brain signals.

It's like saying a mentally challenged (what used to be called "retarded") person is somehow acting "inappropriately" because they can't steer a car or do basic maths.

My focus on that word choice is from a legal standpoint. A foster or adoptive family could lose her on grounds of her "inappropriate" - rather than "challenged" or whatever - behavior. She could even face Juvenile imprisonment for "Public display" or whatever, when clearly she has no intent (or knowledge) of "inappropriate" behavior. Kind of strange.

Soul Reaper
02-23-2005, 01:51 PM
Some people are really full of shit. How could you do that to a child? What's the father's motives for doing this?

SweetSecrets
02-23-2005, 08:08 PM
Originally posted by Northern Girl
It is crazy that this could go on without anyone knowing. He must have been pretty isolated himself. And where was the mother for 11 years?

yEA! That was my question...because she regained custody in the end, then had her dumped in some adult foster care.

GAR
03-01-2005, 01:55 PM
Originally posted by Soul Reaper
Some people are really full of shit. How could you do that to a child? What's the father's motives for doing this?

As in the case with Frank Zappa and his kids' development, sometimes it's a lack of any input or motive.

JCOOK
03-02-2005, 01:07 AM
How much you want to bet she becomes a drugged out stripper or prostitute.......Gee thanks dad!

Seshmeister
03-02-2005, 08:10 AM
I always though that Lou was the most severe case of child isolation in history.