enie (born 1957) is the pseudonym of a feral child who was the victim of extraordinarily severe abuse, neglect and social isolation. Her circumstances are prominently recorded in the annals of abnormal child psychology.[1][2] Genie's father kept her locked alone in a room from the age of 20 months to 13 years, 7 months, almost always strapped to a child's toilet or bound in a crib with her arms and legs completely immobilized, and left her severely malnourished. During this time she was never exposed to any significant amount of speech, and as a result she did not acquire language during childhood. Her abuse came to the attention of Los Angeles child welfare authorities on November 4, 1970.[1][3][4]
In the first several years after Genie's early life and circumstances came to light, psychologists, linguists and other scientists focused a great deal of attention on Genie's case, seeing in her near-total isolation an opportunity to study many aspects of human development. Doctors monitored the way in which she interacted with her environment and other people, as well as her receptivity and response to different psychological treatment methods. Upon finding that she had not yet learned a language, linguists saw Genie as having the potential to be an important way to gain further insight into the processes controlling language acquisition skills and linguistic development. They began to monitor her acquisition of General American English, and in May 1971 commenced a case study primarily focused on her language acquisition. Extensive observations of their new-found human subject enabled them to publish multiple academic works testing theories and hypotheses identifying critical periods during which humans learn to understand and use language.[1][5][6]
From observations of Genie's early speech and behavior, doctors and psychologists discerned that she had undergone some mental development prior to being rescued. In addition, tests on Genie's brain found persistent discrepancies far larger than any prior observations of people with fully intact brains. As they worked with her, she made substantial social and cognitive gains. In the months immediately after her rescue she learned to form relationships with people, and gradually developed some basic social skills. Throughout the time scientists studied her, she continued to make substantial advances her overall development. However, even by the time their case study ended she still had many behaviors characteristic of an unsocialized person. Her ability to learn right-hemisphere versus left-hemisphere tasks remained extremely uneven, giving rise to many new hypotheses on brain lateralization and its effect on both language and other cognitive processes.[5][7][8]
At first, Genie made unexpectedly rapid progress with all aspects of her ability to communicate. Within months of being discovered Genie had developed exceptional nonverbal communication skills, and her consistent ability to nonverbally express her emotions and desires was of great interest to the people who studied her. Her early language acquisition far outstripped the scientists' anticipations, and led to early optimism about her prognosis. As linguists worked with Genie her language continued to expand, but after a short period of time her rate of acquisition dramatically slowed. Although linguists recorded her continuing to learn and use new language skills throughout the time they tested her, she remained unable to fully acquire a language.[6][9][10]
After being found Genie was initially cared for at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and her subsequent placements eventually gave rise to rancorous and protracted debate. After living at Children's Hospital until late June 1971 she was moved into the home of her teacher at the hospital for a month and a half, which was the first of several moves. Upon removal from this home she was then placed with the family of the scientist who was heading the research team studying her, where she lived for approximately four years and where most of the testing and research on her was conducted. In mid-1975, soon after turning 18, she went back to live with her mother, who could not adequately care for her. After a few months, Genie's mother then had her placed in the first of a series of institutions for disabled adults. During the year and a half Genie lived there, she experienced further extreme physical and emotional abuse.[3][4][11] Cut off from almost all of the people who had studied her, her newly acquired language and behavioral skills rapidly regressed.[3][4]
In early January 1978 Genie's mother suddenly decided to forbid all of the scientists except for one from having any contact with Genie, and all testing and scientific observations of her immediately ceased. Most of the scientists who studied and worked with Genie have not seen her since this time. The only post-1977 updates on Genie and her whereabouts are personal observations or secondary accounts of them, and all are spaced several years apart. Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s she moved through several additional abusive foster placements where her mental condition continued to decline, but by early 1993 she was living in a more supportive living arrangement.[3][12][13] Several of the scientists who worked closest with Genie have not seen her since early 1978, although her mother permitted Genie's former foster parents to visit them again sometime during 1993. As of 2008, ABC News reported that Genie was living in California, "in psychological confinement as a ward of the state—her sixth foster home. And again, she is speechless."[3][12]
Although no scientific analysis of Genie has occurred since late 1977, psychologists and linguists have continued to write about Genie's case and development long after this time. Since the case study on Genie concluded, there has been considerable media attention given to her life and the methods of the research team surrounding her. This, in turn, has sparked an ethical debate about their treatment and has led to questions regarding whether she had reached the limits of her developmental potential. In particular, Genie's case has been extensively compared with that of Victor of Aveyron, an eighteenth-century French child who similarly became a classic case of late language acquisition and delayed development.[4][14][15]