Nature v. Nurture

Chapter Five of Newman's Sociology is entitled "Building Identity: Socialization." In this chapter, the idea of nature verses nuture is introduced.  According to Newman, those on the "nature" side believe that "we are who we are because we were born that way." Those on the "nurture" side believe that "we are who we are because of the way we were treated while growing up" (Newman 127).

When I read this section, it reminded me of a video I saw several years ago about a girl known as Genie. I'll summarize her story, but here's the link to the first section the video if you'd like to view it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEnkY2iaKis (If you watch the video: What do you think of their calling her a "wild" or "feral" child?)

Genie was abused and completely neglected for the first thirteen years of her life.  She was strapped almost constantly to a potty chair and beaten often. When police officers found her, she was thirteen years old and unable to talk or walk properly. She was wearing a diaper and was extremely malnourished.



 "Genie"

Scientists saw her as a perfect study subject in the nature verses nurture debate. She had clearly not been nurtured:  she was never allowed outside, very rarely spoken to, and never shown affection. When police found her, she was functioning like an infant. After her rescue, she lived with various scientists and foster parents. She learned to use simple words and was able to sign to express herself.

Genie's story proves that environment has an impact on development. It's unclear, however, what Genie's abilities could have been, had she been properly cared for: It's very possible that she would have still functioned at a low level. That's why the nature v. nurture question still lingers.  No methods exist to determine the percentage of development affected by biology or environment.

This video shows how being ignored affects a baby. It's easy to see how neglect could affect a child.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzXGEbZht0&feature=BFa&list=PLE3C210B5E3118EB3&lf=results_video

Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Genie_(feral_child).jpg

Newman, David. Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life. 8 Ed. 2010.