Genie Haley Schaefer
Clark (Genie s Father) Grew up in foster homes and orphanages Worked in the aircraft assembly lines in Santa Monica Was extremely upset when his mother died He became extremely depressed and isolated
Irene (Genie s mother) Had a stable home Often left to family friends to be taken care of Closer to her father Almost completely blind
Children First pregnancy Baby lost at 2 and a half months Second pregnancy Baby died soon after birth due to Rh blood poisoning Third pregnancy Produced a healthy son John Wiley who survived infancy Fourth pregnancy Susan Genie Wiley
Clark s mother dies Clark moves the family into her two bedroom home in Temple City, California Clark appointed himself guardian of his family Convinced that Genie was retarded Thought she needed to be protected from the evil of the world
Genie s Room She was harnessed to an infant s potty seat and left to sit there At night she was placed in a the crib with mesh sides and cover overhead
Genie s Diet Baby foods Cereals An occasional soft-boiled egg For fear of too much contact she was fed hurriedly, usually having the food stuffed into her mouth
Genie Discovered November 4, 1970 13 ½ years old 59 lbs 54 tall Incontinent Could not hop, skip, climb, or do anything requiring the full extension of her limbs Could not talk
Admission to the hospital Tests done by James Kent An expert in child abuse Found: All her dexterity was in her fingertips Motor skills of a 2 year old Made good eye contact Attentive to sounds
Chomsky and language Language is a tool Children early on respond to rules so arcane that adults rarely invoke them Understand that verbs are divided into classes Directly vs. Balistically Know that irregular plurals can be used to make compound words but regular plurals cannot
Optional Studies Fromkin Interest in the cognitive area Shurley Suggested putting her back into a highly restricted environment and removing her slowly and gradually
Genie s Development Began almost immediately Starting to turn some anger outward, aiming it more at a source of frustration Vocabulary increased She could understand more than she could produce Gaining a years worth of development every few months Showed a developmental scatter
David Rigler Professor of pediatrics and psychology at the University of Southern California Chief psychologist at the hospital that Genie was admitted to, in the psychiatry division Became the primary doctor on Genie s case Got a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for $21,500 February 1971
Grant decision time May of 1971 Shurley s sleep study results May indicate mental retardation Rigler made his decision The primary focus would be on language
Susan Curtiss Summer of 1971- Started recording everything Genie said to keep track of progress Began taking her on excursions Genie was the most powerful nonverbal communicator I ve ever come across
Jean Butler June 1971- Genie was granted the ability to go on field trips to Jean s home Came down with Rubella Genie was exposed No humane way to isolate her July 7 th Genie moves in with Jean
Living with Butler Uninhibited by any concept of modesty Getting potty trained while getting her period at the same time Tremendous Progress Incontinent 30/37 nights Masturbation declined Speech increased Butler applied to be her foster mother
Dr. Rigler s letter to Butler Said she wasn t cooperating as a trainee Mailed her a letter This child is not for sale Extraordinary demands Four days later, Butler received news that she was rejected as a foster parent
David and Marilyn Rigler August 13, 1971- Genie moved in with her new foster parents Laughlin Park Had 3 adolescent children, a cat, and a golden retriever puppy
Living with the Rigler s Enrolled in a nursery school Then a public school for the mentally retarded Was given speech therapy and taught sign language Around the house: Ironing, sewing, and drawing
Revelations of her father Constantly afraid he would come back Father hit Worst revelation- wolf photograph Interviewed Irene Clark use to bark and growl at Genie
Irene is released Irene begins to visit Genie The scientist fought to keep Irene out of jail David and Marilyn Rigler sometimes drove Genie to temple City to visit with her mother
John Miner Was a lawyer in Irene s case to keep her out of jail Became Genie s legal guardian His interest is motivated by his desire to safeguard Genie s part of her fathers estate.
False advertisement Genie s progress was also being watched by Jean Butler Rigler said she was acting appropriately in social situation when she was not Rigler s claimed she was unable to dress herself Reset her progress to hide her decline
Genie goes home to Irene Goes to the house in Temple City Right where the bulk of the painful childhood happened It didn t last long Irene contacted the East Los Angeles Regional Center for the Developmentally disabled
Foster home to Foster home Came bearing a large collection of plastic objects Genie s reaction to the change was to regress Curtiss was the only one that visited Noticed that Genie was in an abusive home Moved to a new home where she began to improve
Genie s language Quickly developed vocabulary Communicative person Never mastered the rules of grammar
Genie Today Very little is known about her present condition Living in an adultcare home somewhere in Southern California Speaks in sign language She is Happy
Discussion Questions??? Do you think Genie was used more as an experiment? Who do you think is most to blame for Genie s mistreatment after she was discovered? How could we solve this today, to ensure it doesn t happen again?