Tag: 1970s

“When I was about 20 years old, I met an old pastor’s
wife who told me that when she was young and had her first child, she
didn’t believe in striking children, although spanking kids with a
switch pulled from a tree was standard punishment at the time. But one
day, when her son was four or five, he did something that she felt
warranted a spanking–the first in his life. She told him that he would
have to go outside himself and find a switch for her to hit him with.
The boy was gone a long time. And when he came back in, he was crying.
He said to her, “Mama, I couldn’t find a switch, but here’s a rock that
you can throw at me.” All of a sudden the mother understood how the
situation felt from the child’s point of view: that if my mother wants
to hurt me, then it makes no difference what she does it with; she might
as well do it with a stone. And the mother took the boy into her lap
and they both cried. Then she laid the rock on a shelf in the kitchen to
remind herself forever: never violence. And that is something I think
everyone should keep in mind. Because if violence begins in the nursery
one can raise children into violence.”

— Astrid Lindgren, author of Pippi Longstocking, 1978 Peace Prize Acceptance Speech

It’s hard to believe that human beings
can be classed as “feral”, but there have been a few isolated incidences
where this was indeed the case.

One of the most famous, is the story of Genie, known affectionately as “Wild Child”.
This beautiful young girl was rescued by the authorities when she was
13 years old and they were astonished to find that she acted like a wild
animal. Genie was timid, walked on four legs, and couldn’t speak any
English. She wasn’t raised by animals, as seen in other cases, but was
the victim of horrendous abuse that spanned over a decade. When she was
around one year old, her father decided to keep her socially and
physically isolated.

During this time, he kept her permanently strapped to a child’s toilet
or bound her in a crib with her arms and legs completely immobilized.
Nobody was allowed to interact with her and she had no stimulation of
any kind. She was also severely malnourished and had numerous vitamin
deficiencies.

Her cruel, abusive father promised her mother that if Genie survived
past the age of 12, he would allow her to call authorities to rescue the
child. Genie was rescued after a violent row broke out between her
parents, and her mother took her out of the house. (This was the first
time she had ever been outside). She was almost blinded by the sunlight,
and struggled to walk upright. Eventually, psychologists and language
experts began to look after Genie. As she was only fed baby food, she
had great difficulty chewing and swallowing and became distressed
whenever she saw food. Although she was very shy, Genie was highly
antisocial, and proved
extremely difficult for others to control. Regardless of where she was,
she constantly salivated, spat and growled at others. She had no sense
of personal property, frequently pointing to or taking something she
wanted from someone else. In addition, she did had no situational
awareness. Doctors wrote that she acted on impulse irrespective of the
setting, especially noting that she frequently engaged in open
masturbation and would sometimes attempt to involve older men.

After living in several foster homes and specialised hospitals, Genie
made some improvements. She had minimal manners and social etiquette.
She could speak a few words and showed a wide array of human emotions.
Her case is key in understanding human behaviour and holds a great deal
of scientific value. Today, Genie is in her late 50s and is still being
cared for by professionals and psychologists. She has improved a great
deal, but will always remain “feral” according to experts.