SOCIOLOGY QUESTION - abused girl found locked in basement by parents with no interaction?

Question

Can some one please tell me the name of the most well known case where they found a young girl being held prisoner by her father with no interaction. I think she was found at the age of 13 and the did sociological and psycological studies on her. She barked, had no sociological sense, and may have been found to late to be taught the "normal" ways. If someone could give me any information, link, name of the documentary it would be great as I am trying to do a term paper and I just can't sem to remember any specific information on this story. Thanks!

Answer 1

Her name's Genie.

The Story of Genie
On November 4, 1970 a girl was discovered. She had been locked in a room alone for over ten years. She was tied to a potty chair and left to sit alone day after day. At night, she was tied into a sleeping bag which restrained her arms. She was put into an over-sized crib with a cover made of metal screening. Often she was forgotten. On those nights she slept tied to the potty chair.

At first, people could hardly believe that Genie was thirteen years old. While she seemed to understand a few words, the only words she could say were, "stopit" and "nomore." She had a strange bunny-like walk— she held her hands up in front of her like paws and moved in a halting way. She could not chew solid food and could hardly swallow. She spat constantly. She sniffed. She was not toilet-trained and could not focus her eyes beyond 12 feet. She weighed 59 pounds and was 54 inches tall.

Genie was rescued and put in Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Genie's mental and physical development began almost immediately. By the third day in the hospital, Genie began helping dress herself and using the toilet voluntarily. She began moving more smoothly. She was hungry to learn words, pointing at things until people would give her a word for them.

Scientists wondered, "Did Genie have a normal learning capacity? Could a nurturing, enriched environment make up for Genie's horrible past? Would it be possible for Genie to recover completely?" This is how the "experiment" began.

A team of scientists (referred to as the Genie Team) began working with Genie. They wanted to find out what they could about how humans learn. Over 200 years ago, scientists had studied another "wild child" in France named Victor. They called that case "The Forbidden Experiment." Genie's case was similar because it would be unthinkable to lock up or put a child in such severe isolation on purpose.

But having discovered a child who had been isolated, scientists wanted to learn from that experience. Was that wrong? As with Victor, people wondered if scientists should be studying Genie. Could she be both studied and taken care of well? Or should the Genie research be forbidden?
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You can read more, here's the link:

Answer 2

I think the term is Feral Children. I saw a video on these cases and it was very sad.

Answer 3

There's alot.....good luck on your paper!