Page 143 - Sociology and You

Chapter 4 Socialization
Can we generalize from monkeys to humans?
It is risky to assume that knowledge gained about nonhumans also applies to humans. Nevertheless, many experts on human development believe that for human infants—as for Harlow’s monkeys—emo- tional needs for affection, intimacy, and warmth are as important as physiological needs for food, water, and protection. Human babies denied close contact usually have difficulty forming emotional ties with others. Touching, holding, stroking, and communi- cating appear to be essential to normal human de- velopment. According to a classic study by Lawrence Casler (1965), the developmental growth rate of institutionalized children—who receive less physical contact than normal—can be improved with only twenty minutes of extra touching a day.
Case Studies on Isolated Children: Anna and Isabelle
To understand more about how socialization af- fects development, we will look at the case histories of two children—Anna and Isabelle—who were so- cially and emotionally abused. You already know the story of Genie from the Sociological Imagination on page 109. Anna and Isabelle also had traumatic childhoods. Although these three children were born many years ago, similar situations still occur today, unfortunately.
Who was Anna? Anna was the second child born to her unmarried mother. At first, Anna’s strict grandfather had forced her mother to take Anna and leave home, but desperation drove them back again. Anna’s mother so feared that the sight of the child would anger her father that she kept Anna confined to a small room on the second floor of their farmhouse. For five years, Anna received only milk to drink. When finally found, she was barely alive. Her legs were skeleton-like and her stomach bloated from malnutrition. Apparently, Anna had seldom been moved from one position to another, and her clothes and bedding were filthy. She did not know what it was like to be held or comforted. At the time of her discovery, Anna could not walk or talk and showed few signs of intelligence.
During the first year and a half after being found, Anna lived in a county home for children. Here, she learned to walk, to understand simple com- mands, and to feed herself. She could recall people she had seen. But her speech was that of a one-year-old.
Anna was then transferred to a school for learning disabled children, where she made some further progress. Still, at the age of seven, her mental age was only nineteen months, and her social maturity was that of a two- year-old. A year later, she could bounce and catch a ball, participate as a fol- lower in group activities, eat normally (although with a spoon only), attend
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Studies have shown that children raised under extremely isolated conditions have little or no chance of ever being socialized.