Genie Wiley, the Feral Child

2023-02-27 09:20:11 Written by Antony

Throughout history, there have been several instances of feral children who were raised in complete social isolation, without any human interaction. However, one of the most notable cases that have garnered both public and scientific attention is that of a young girl named Genie Wiley. 


She was subjected to almost her entire childhood being confined to a bedroom, deprived of social contact, and subjected to abuse for over a decade.

The story of Genie Wiley, who spent most of her childhood locked in a room and deprived of human contact, tested a theory about how language skills develop in children. It also raised the question of whether a loving and caring environment could help make up for a difficult past.

Starved, tortured, forgotten: Genie, the feral child who left a mark on  researchers | Children | The Guardian
Genie's Story

The case of Genie Wiley came to light on November 4, 1970. Genie was discovered by a social worker when her mother, who was partially blind, went to apply for social services. Genie had been isolated in a small room starting at the age of 20 months until her discovery at 13 years and 9 months old.

She spent most of her time naked and tied to a potty chair where she was given limited use of her hands and feet.


Genie Wiley was completely isolated from any kind of external interaction. Her room's windows were covered, and the door was always shut.

 

She was only given baby food and cereal to eat, and nobody spoke to her. Despite living with her father, mother, and brother, her father and brother would only communicate with her by barking or growling, and her mother had very limited contact with her.


Genie’s father was intolerant of noise, so no TV or radio was played in the house. If Genie made any noise, she was physically beaten.

Upon her discovery, Genie was admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for evaluation. She was severely underdeveloped. She was thin and looked like a child of six or seven. She couldn’t stand up straight and could only walk with a hunched “bunny walk.” She was unable to chew, had trouble swallowing, and spat frequently. 


She was incontinent and mute. At first, the only words she recognized were her name and “sorry.” Testing shortly after she came to the hospital revealed that her social maturity and mental abilities were at the level of a one-year-old.

Genie Wiley did not learn to walk at a typical age, which led her father to think that she had developmental disabilities. However, researchers who were called in to investigate after she was discovered found no evidence of such disabilities in her early life. 


They discovered that she did not have brain damage, mental disability, or autism. It was concluded that the developmental delays and impairments that Genie had were due to the isolation and deprivation she had experienced.


Both of Genie’s parents were charged with abuse, but Genie’s 70-year-old father committed suicide the day he was supposed to appear in court. The note he left said, “The world will never understand.”

Genie Wiley's parents were charged with abusing her, but her father, who was 70 years old, took his own life on the day he was supposed to attend court. He left a note that said, "The world will never understand."

The Rush to Research


Genie Wiley's story caught the attention of both the media and the research community, as it presented a rare opportunity to investigate whether a person could develop mentally after experiencing severe deprivation. It is considered unethical to intentionally subject people to deprivation experiments, so Genie's case provided a valuable chance to study this subject. To protect her identity, the name "Genie" was used instead of her real name.


The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded research on Genie Wiley, and a team was put together to help her recover and study her progress. Genie quickly learned basic life skills such as using the toilet and dressing. 


She was very curious about the world around her and liked going outside the hospital. She was good at communicating without words, but she struggled with learning how to use language. This led psychologist David Rigler to concentrate on studying Genie's language development.


Language Acquisition


When Genie Wiley was discovered, there was an ongoing debate in the academic community about how humans acquire language. Noam Chomsky, a linguist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, believed that humans are born with an innate ability to learn a language and that it is a natural part of our genetic makeup. 


Neuropsychologist Eric Lenneberg added to this theory by suggesting that if someone did not learn a language before puberty, it might be impossible to acquire it later. This idea became known as the "critical period hypothesis." However, there was no way to test this theory until Genie was discovered.


In the first seven months after Genie was found, she learned a lot of new words and started to speak, but only in single words. By July 1971, she could combine two words, and by November, she could put together three. Although there were improvements, Genie still struggled with asking questions and did not seem to grasp the rules of grammar.

Typically, after children start speaking in two-word phrases, their language skills tend to improve rapidly in what's called a "language explosion." However, Genie did not experience this kind of explosion. Despite four more years of work and research with her, her speech seemed to reach a plateau, and she could only create two to three-word phrases.


Genie showed that it's possible for someone to learn some language even after a critical period. However, she was unable to learn grammar, which Chomsky believed was an essential component of human language. This suggested that passing the critical period made it difficult to fully acquire a first language.

 

Arguments and Ethical Considerations


While Genie was being treated, there were disagreements among her team members. Her teacher, Jean Butler, believed that Genie was being tested too much and wanted to change her treatment. Butler wouldn't let the linguist Susan Curtiss or psychologist James Kent see Genie. Some team members thought Butler wanted to become famous by working with Genie and didn't want others to get credit. Butler applied to become Genie's permanent foster parent but was rejected about a month later.
David Rigler, a psychologist, and his wife Marilyn became Genie's foster parents for four years after Jean Butler's application was rejected. They worked with Genie and allowed other researchers to continue studying her progress during that time. However, Genie had to leave the Riglers' home after NIMH stopped funding the project because of issues with collecting data.

In 1975, Genie's mother regained custody of her after being cleared of all child abuse charges. However, taking care of Genie became too difficult for her, and Genie was placed in different foster homes. Unfortunately, Genie experienced abuse again in these homes. Eventually, she stopped talking and even refused to open her mouth.

 

Genie’s mother sued Genie’s team and the Children's Hospital, accusing the researchers of putting Genie's testing above her well-being, which resulted in Genie being pushed to the point of exhaustion. The lawsuit was resolved later, but people still argue about whether the researchers took advantage of Genie, and whether they provided her with the best possible care. Some believe that Genie was exploited while others think that the researchers did their best to help her.

 

Genie is believed to be alive and living in an adult foster home as a ward of the state of California. While the linguist who worked with Genie, Susan Curtiss, has attempted to get in touch with her, she’s been repeatedly rebuffed. However, she said that when she calls the authorities, they inform her that Genie is well. Yet, when journalist Russ Rymer saw Genie at her 27th birthday party, he painted a much bleaker picture. Similarly, psychiatrist Jay Shurley, who was at Genie’s 27th and 29th birthdays, claimed Genie was depressed and had withdrawn into herself.