According to the NOVA video, "Secret of the Wild Child," her father was considered the "abuser," and shortly after Genie was discovered, he killed himself. Her mother, who clearly had some problems of her own, claimed that she too was abused. She did eventually gain custody, though gave up having Genie live with her after a brief time.
One thing that always interested me (and my students) about the story is the turmoil that surrounded Genie's treatment. The NOVA documentary is very clear in pointing out that there were serious problems in deciding who could do what with her, what her treatment should be, and who should be involved with her. According to the video, she was clearly a "goldmine" in the eyes of those who were entrusted with her care. Many people appeared to see her as having the potential to put their names up in lights for treating her. My students usually have no problem in pointing out all the conflicts of interest. Dr. Susan Curtiss usually comes under fire as appearing to be very self-serving. This is a good video to show not only for the developmental concepts, but also for discussions about critical periods of development and language. And of course there are possibilities for discussion of the problems that occur in the research field and in the ethical arena. Beth Benoit University System of New Hampshire on 11/8/01 9:37 PM, Susan Freedman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I've missed some of the postings about this but had to ask. Wasn't her > mother in charge when she was being neglected/abused before being > "discoverd" . If so, did this same person then regain custody? --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
