Sociological Explanations Of Feral Children

Feral children (also known as ‘wild children’) are children who have been deserted by their parents, or have run away at a very young age. These children are then raised by animals in the wild. They become feral children because they acquire, from the animal species which raised them, wild behaviours and instincts. (Hehrer, 2009). Isolated children are children who are raised by one person (or a small group) but they are kept in a completely isolated area with no (or minimal) contact to any society. (Hehrer, 2009).

Feral and isolated children are important to sociologists because they are used in the concept of nature vs. nurture. Sociologists study whether a child is born into this world knowing basic human functions or whether the child has to be raised in a society to develop these functions. (Hehrer, 2009). Feral and isolated children allow sociologists to conclude that a child has to be raised in a human society to develop into a well-functioning human. Children will lack all basic skills (such as talking and walking) if they are not a part of society. (Hehrer, 2009). This shows us that we all have to be socialised to be members of a society.
It is believed that there is a critical stage in childhood development which a child cannot miss or they will not be able to acquire these essential social skills and behaviours.
(Anonymous, n.d.). This shows us how important socialisation is. Humans need to go through this process to learn the norms of their culture and the accepted behaviours in a society. (Haralambos, Holborn, Chapman, & Moore, 2013). Feral and isolated children have not been socialised and therefore cannot learn these basic skills and cannot fully be a part of
society.

Victor (“The Wild Boy of Aveyron”), a feral child found on January 9, 1800 in the South of France was not socialised. He walked on all fours, could not speak, couldn’t feel temperature variations and ‘attacked’ small animals. (Hehrer, 2009). Although he did emotionally and intellectually grow, he was still unable to acquire many basic skills, such as talking, as was unable to become a productive member of a society. (Anonymous, n.d.).

Genie, an isolated girl found in 1970, was also not socialised. She was unable to chew and swallow, unable to stand upright, unable to differentiate between temperatures and could not speak or understand more than 20 words. (Anonymous, n.d.). Genie did manage to learn more vocabulary and stand more upright but she was never social and couldn’t be integrated into society.

The cases of Victor and Genie show us that there is a critical period in a child’s development and by the end of this period they must be socialised and know all basic skills in order to be a part of society. These cases, along with others, are important to sociologists to study nature vs. nurture and to be able to understand socialisation and childhood development.