Feral Children in Our Own Backyard

Probably if you've taken a psychology class, you've learned about the phenomenon of "feral children". Basically, it is a non-medical term used to describe children who have grown up without any consistent human social interaction. There have been some famous cases, like a boy in France who was apparently raised by wolves, and a girl named Genie, who was found strapped to a potty chair in her adolescence.

A few years ago, a case like this surfaced in the Tampa Bay area, and a link to the article is above. A seven-year-old girl named Danielle was found starving, surrounded by bugs, in a locked room, where she 'lived' with her mother and two older brothers. You can find all the information on her progress in the article, and it's pretty inspiring, but I wanted to know what everyone thought of the situation.

The mother chose to keep caring for her adult sons, one of whom was mentally handicapped, but never even took her daughter outside. She blamed many of the circumstances on being left alone by her boyfriend. Do you think it was relevant that Danielle is female? Would the mother have treated the boy differently? This article is definitely worth a read, as it will get you thinking.