The+case+of+Genie

THE CASE OF GENIE
There are stories abundant on the topic of feral children but these stories are unknown to most of society. We are going to be taking a look into the lives of some feral children through a variety of media. We will be examing the case of Genie in class through readings and news clips. We will then take a look at the novel "Children of the Wolf" by Jane Yolen. Finally we will be taking a look at the movie "Nell".

Some of the key questions we will examine are:
 * 1) Why would social scientists be interested in cases like Genie's?
 * 2) How could the study of primates be used to develop a further perspective on the development of feral children?
 * 3) What affect does society have on identity formation and behaviour?
 * 4) Who are agents of socialization?
 * 5) What role does family have on identity formation and behaviour?
 * 6) How does a child's home/residence affect his/her identity formation and behaviour?
 * 7) What does it mean to be "civilized"? Has this changed throughout history?
 * 8) What behaviour would an animal have to exhibit in order to "adopt" a human child as its own?
 * 9) What effects would being raised by animals have on thier identity formation and behaviour? health?
 * 10) What benefits or drawbacks would there be to removing a feral child from the wild?
 * 11) What are the pros and cons to efforts to "civilize" them?
 * 12) How would you go about doing this?
 * 13) What characteristics do feral children all have in common? Are there key personality traits?
 * 14) Is there support/evidence to show postive outcomes/benefits to removing feral children from the wild?
 * 15) How does the media affect our outlook of feral children? Why are stories of feral children fantasized in childrens books/movies?