Genie, the deprived child

Pristinegirl

Well-known member
MBTI
ANFP
Genie, was a thirteen year old girl who was isolated in a room as well as being deprived of language, or any parental care, for 12 years.

This is from a 1994 documentary about the case called Mockingbird Don't Sing'. [It consists of 6 parts on youtube, this is part 1]

[youtube]ipt0pjz0mwg[/youtube]

Apparently the parents 'reason' for doing this was that they thought she was mentally retarded (?!?!?!?!). I really CANNOT understand why or how on earth two parents could do such a thing.
 
Last edited:
Genie, was a thirteen year old girl who was isolated in a room as well as being deprived of language, or any parental care, for 12 years.

This is from a 1994 documentary about the case called Mockingbird Don't Sing'. [It consists of 6 parts on youtube]

Apparently the parents 'reason' for doing this was that they thought she was mentally retarded (?!?!?!?!). I really CANNOT understand why or how on earth two parents could do such a thing.

My God! The poor girl! What happened to the blind woman who brought her to child services? They don't say anything about her. I would like to think she cared about Genie. And it sounds like the rest of the doctors treated her like a science experiment! Where's the humanity in that?! That last guy seemed pretty good, but he never said how Genie is doing now.

So very wrong on so many levels... :(
 
My God! The poor girl! What happened to the blind woman who brought her to child services? They don't say anything about her. I would like to think she cared about Genie. And it sounds like the rest of the doctors treated her like a science experiment! Where's the humanity in that?! That last guy seemed pretty good, but he never said how Genie is doing now.

So very wrong on so many levels... :(


IT is so wrong! The parents should have been shot, although the father killed himself eventually.. Its so sad because she was promising and kept developing untill they stopped funding the research, forcing her to move back home to her mother, to then being tossed around amongst foster families who abused her.
So basically, they gave her hope and a chance at life, only to rip it away from her... :(
 
Could someone provide a brief summary as to how the video goes? I don't have sound currently. What happened to her? I think I remember this case but I don't know for sure.
 
Could someone provide a brief summary as to how the video goes? I don't have sound currently. What happened to her? I think I remember this case but I don't know for sure.
  • Genie was isolated in a room for 12 years because her father thought she was mentally retarded.
  • She was only fed with baby food.
  • She was deprived from parental care and language.
  • She was severely malnutritioned.
  • She was not toilet trained.
  • When she was put in a childrens hospital she was an interesting case for research in terms of 'nurture'.
  • She also started to explore new things about the world when she was there.
 
I remember when this news story came out. I believe that anyone that can do that to their child (any child, but especially your own) must not only be mentally ill, but purely evil. I remember hearing about that poor girl being chained to the toilet and just crying to myself.
 
Oh jeez, I remember hearing about that in my Intro to Psych class. That was horrible!

she was an interesting case for research in terms of 'nurture'.

I remember finding that particularly terrible too. She got treated like a research subject afterwards due to it being such an unusual case. I hope she eventually got placed in the care of some decent parents.
 
Oh jeez, I remember hearing about that in my Intro to Psych class. That was horrible!

I remember finding that particularly terrible too. She got treated like a research subject afterwards due to it being such an unusual case. I hope she eventually got placed in the care of some decent parents.

Unfortunately she was tossed around amonst different families who abused her, her progress regressed due to this and she now lives in an adult foster home :/

There simply are no words...
 
What's wrong with the parents that they treated her this way? The dad killed himself, so obviously he had some mental illness..


I can't watch the video either.
 
What's wrong with the parents that they treated her this way? The dad killed himself, so obviously he had some mental illness..


I can't watch the video either.

Yes but I mean even killing himself is not enough punishment for what he did to this poor little girls life.

How come no one can watch the video :S
 
I watched the video up to part 3 and I got bored.

This proves that humans do not know right from wrong by birth. It is learned.
 
If children are not challenged during their formative years (and are kept in isolation) they will experience emotional, physical, and mental challenges that they may never overcome. Talking and interacting are critical to early development. To deprive someone of human contact (especially when they are young) is a terrible thing to do to a person.

Although the parents are responsible for what happened to their daughter, I find that there are plenty of others who could shoulder some of the blame for her well being after she was discovered. While her case was an interesting one for science, I find that the relationship between the scientists and Genie to be misguided at best and parasitic and exploitation of a minor at its worst. Genie is a human being, and she needed decent care... she was used as a lab rat and discarded by the scientific community when the research was acquired.

I also find it deplorable that she was placed in a loving home after she was found... instead she was abused and mistreated in foster home after foster home. Perhaps society failed her as well, and placed her where the light would not shine on her again.

We find someone and save them only to put them back in a similar hell that they experienced... I cannot describe how badly I feel Genie's case was handled.

Even though their actions were very evil, I don't see how retributive justice will somehow make amends to the harsh treatment that she endured. Her father is already dead, and I don't think his body or memory should be dealt any more penalty. I hope that her mother is brought to proper justice (I assume that she also had a role in the neglect), but I don't think she should be executed. Instead, she should serve a sentance that is fair and just (I personally don't know what that sentence would be).

I cannot say that I am surprised at the neglect that she suffered. If you truly wish to see human suffering, look at the poorest regions of the world that are neglected.
 
If children are not challenged during their formative years (and are kept in isolation) they will experience emotional, physical, and mental challenges that they may never overcome. Talking and interacting are critical to early development. To deprive someone of human contact (especially when they are young) is a terrible thing to do to a person.

Although the parents are responsible for what happened to their daughter, I find that there are plenty of others who could shoulder some of the blame for her well being after she was discovered. While her case was an interesting one for science, I find that the relationship between the scientists and Genie to be misguided at best and parasitic and exploitation of a minor at its worst. Genie is a human being, and she needed decent care... she was used as a lab rat and discarded by the scientific community when the research was acquired.

I also find it deplorable that she was placed in a loving home after she was found... instead she was abused and mistreated in foster home after foster home. Perhaps society failed her as well, and placed her where the light would not shine on her again.

We find someone and save them only to put them back in a similar hell that they experienced... I cannot describe how badly I feel Genie's case was handled.

Even though their actions were very evil, I don't see how retributive justice will somehow make amends to the harsh treatment that she endured. Her father is already dead, and I don't think his body or memory should be dealt any more penalty. I hope that her mother is brought to proper justice (I assume that she also had a role in the neglect), but I don't think she should be executed. Instead, she should serve a sentance that is fair and just (I personally don't know what that sentence would be).

I cannot say that I am surprised at the neglect that she suffered. If you truly wish to see human suffering, look at the poorest regions of the world that are neglected.


I agree with what everyone has said.

And azure has pointed out genie missed several critical periods.

We watched the documentary in developmental physiology and there where also ethical issues about how genie was handled. The research conducted and the situation in general.

For example the roles of parent, researcher and consoler can not be mixed.

The research apparently was poorly cataloged and had no direction.

Whats really sad is genie was simply an experiment to a lot of these people.

And she now lives in an adult care home.

She never got what deserved a truly loving family.
 
Yes but I mean even killing himself is not enough punishment for what he did to this poor little girls life.

How come no one can watch the video :S
I'm not interested in making anyone suffer for their crimes. I'm more interested in why they are committing them in the first place.

Let's not let our emotions run away with us here. The torturing of the torturer doesn't give us any answers.

Right and wrong are instinctually derived from what is going to perpetuate the species while considering keeping their resources in check. I'm interested in why, instinctually, the parents weren't into that.
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, cases like this are somewhat more common than one might think. There are feral children scattered around the globe.

Also, some recent studies have indicated that this type of abuse causes irreversible damage, causing the brain to not fully develop properly forever.

The importance of play is larger than most people understand.
 
The fact that she bounced around from abuser to abuser after she was supposedly saved hurts me even more. It makes me want to take in abused children. I may not have the finances to care for them, but at least I can give them the love and support that it seems current foster families cannot. Although, I don't mean that for ALL foster homes. My old boss, the owner of a Christian private high school, is a foster parent and is an incredibly giving and loving parent. He always treats them as if they were his own flesh and blood. I just can't understand why all foster families can't be the same. Maybe psych evaluations and lie detector tests need to be given.
 
I'm not interested in making anyone suffer for their crimes. I'm more interested in why they are committing them in the first place.

Let's not let our emotions run away with us here. The torturing of the torturer doesn't give us any answers.

Right and wrong are instinctually derived from what is going to perpetuate the species while considering keeping their resources in check. I'm interested in why, instinctually, the parents weren't into that.

Definetly, I was carried away a little because it is so heartbreaking and really does raise alot of questions. xD Somehow I just have an eager feeling that Justice must be served. Perhaps like natural selection says, he died so he was not suitable for this world...

Unfortunately, cases like this are somewhat more common than one might think. There are feral children scattered around the globe.

Also, some recent studies have indicated that this type of abuse causes irreversible damage, causing the brain to not fully develop properly forever.

The importance of play is larger than most people understand.

Yes and it is horrible. The best way one could do something in the name of Genie would not be to further punish her parents, but would be to look out for signs if children are being abused, take on a foster child or anything to counteract the horrendous abuse amongst children. I feel that I have developed a new kind of awareness by watching this documentary, really. Really poor children, around the world I wish I could help them. Unfortunately I'm still a child myself :/

The fact that she bounced around from abuser to abuser after she was supposedly saved hurts me even more. It makes me want to take in abused children. I may not have the finances to care for them, but at least I can give them the love and support that it seems current foster families cannot. Although, I don't mean that for ALL foster homes. My old boss, the owner of a Christian private high school, is a foster parent and is an incredibly giving and loving parent. He always treats them as if they were his own flesh and blood. I just can't understand why all foster families can't be the same. Maybe psych evaluations and lie detector tests need to be given.

There is definetly a BIG problem if a child goes from an neglecting and abusive torture familly, to being a science experiment who was dumped as soon as the funding stopped, TO then being tossed around amongst MANY different foster families who ALSO abused her.

This should really raise attention about Foster Famillies and I think that a thorough investigation should be done on the famillies :/
 
I wonder if they could do it again, but instead, use martial arts as a language
 
Back
Top