Tlc Feral Child Analysis

Feral, wild, and undomesticated. These are the terms allocated to describe the children in the TLC documentary Wild Child: The Story of Feral Children. As a product of their parental negligence and poor living conditions, these children had no choice but to seek protection and care from stray dogs and/or wolves in order to survive. Stories and tales of such children being raised by wolves date back to centuries prior to the domestication of civilization and modern society. The documentary delves into the eternal nature versus nurture debate. Feral children are so fascinating and intriguing to psychologists and the field of psychology because they raise thought-provoking questions such as what it even means to be human.

Feral children acquire

The first scientifically documented case occurred during the 1800’s in France, when hunters came across a wild child lurking around in the forest. After hearing about the encounter and capture of the feral boy, a doctor named Jean Itard became particularly interested in studying him (TLC). Upon coming face to face with the child, medical professionals came to the conclusion that he was nothing but an idiot (TLC). However, Jean’s persistent fascination with the boy led him continue his study. Using a scientific approach, he tested the boy for two qualities in order to observe whether or not he was truly “human”: the ability to feel empathy and the ability to use language. Victor -the boy whom Jean was conducting his research on- could do neither due to the time he spent isolated in the forest (TLC). The lasting impact of such isolation left him deficient in his ability to speak and behave alike a “normal” human. Nonetheless, that did not phase Jean nor his ambitious desire to revert the wild child’s beastly manner. Utilizing love, kindness, and the help of his maid, Victor became less wild. He gained the ability to demonstrate real feelings for the people around him, such as when he demonstrated empathy and understanding of the death of his maid’s husband without having to be told with spoken word. He could sense her grief (TLC). Eventually, Victor further progressed to the point where he possessed the ability

The narrator in the documentary explains that “faced with almost unimaginable situations, feral children have come up with the best strategies they could to survive” (TLC). They do not act like other humans, despite being born with the same genetic predispositions. However, I believe that Itard’s work with Victor shows that our behavior can be defaulted back to basic human abilities. While he wasn’t able to fully restore Victor’s speech and behavior, Itard was able to watch Victor regain simple functioning, just like a caveman. I believe people have basic behaviors that they are born with, but also that we as humans also learn from the people (or animals) around us, just as Oxana did. We model certain behaviors. For example, growing up in a household with my mother, I picked up some of her characteristics. When I am mad, I become impulsive and say the first things that come to mind, without thinking of the consequences. Also, I tend to be somewhat of a “neat freak” when it comes to my living space. I think this is due to witnessing my mom’s behavior around the house, since she works as a house cleaner. However, I do embody separate behaviors from my mom as well. When I was younger, she used spanking as a disciplinary method when I did something wrong. Following the hypothesis of the “nurture” theory, this would lead me to develop