A Feral Child With A History Of Near Total Social Isolation

Abstract This paper explores the introduction of a feral child with a history of near total social isolation into a society that was as unprepared to receive her as she was to understand it. The discussions and thoughts regarding this child s treatment and care on both the medical and personal front did answer some questions while bringing to light even more. Additionally, there were a great number of scientific opportunities that were overlooked and missed due to the research staff s decision to focus all of their time and efforts onto testing just one theory. This paper will briefly examine the care and treatment received by this child while offering an in-depth review as to how this case relates to the three major sociological†¦show more content†¦This child s situation, although terribly inhumane and unfathomable, would become a living, breathing experiment that humanity would never dare to intentionally replicate because of the negative residual effects that would haunt such a test subject for the rest of their natural life. The horrid upbringing that this child was forced to endure was an opportunity unlike any other (McMahan, 2014). Many fields of study could have been named the main scientific focus in Genie s case, but it was finally decided upon that linguistics would take the lead above all others (Newton, 2004). Although the sociological perspective was not a priority, it would be a mistake to not recognize the importance of the information contributed to sociology by Genie s history and rehabilitation. Genie put the three major sociological theories brought to light by Durkheim, Marx and Weber to the test and challenged their very principles. The information provided by the observations and documentation were more than enough to conduct a real life comparison to the theories while providing sociologists with a fresh perspective. Unique Opportunities The availability of someone as unique and fragile as Genie was instantly recognized as a rare chance to witness, evaluate and document the findings of an almost unheard of social experiment that would test the validity of the three major sociological theories proposed by Durkheim, Marx and Weber. These