POSITION PAPER

Name: Castro, Dhon Aldrin

Course, Year and Section: BS Aeronautical Engineering, First Year Section 2-G2
Subject: SSCI 114 – Understanding the Self
Days/Time: TTH, 3:30-5:00 pm

The Case of Isabelle

I. Summary

The Case of Isabelle discusses the life story of Isabelle and how she and her mother
survived being locked up in isolation and deprived of liberty for six and a half years. According to
the report of Peck and Krieger, Isabelle being an illegitimate child fueled her mother's family to
lock them both in a confined and dark room. Isabelle's mother was just twenty-two years of age
when she was pregnant with Isabelle. Isabelle's mother has impaired hearing which causes
difficulty for her to communicate. With this, the mother does not have the ability to teach Isabelle
how to orally communicate. It was in November 1938 when Isabelle and her mother had the
opportunity to escape the hell hole they were in and report to state authorities the atrocity that
happened to them.

Isabelle and her mother were extremely deprived of their freedom to live normally. As a
child, Isabelle shall socialize with her fellow children and have the opportunity to wander the world.
By the time Isabelle and her mother were captured by the authorities, Isabelle was brought to a
children's hospital in Columbia, Ohio. Since she was locked up in a dark, confined space only
with her mute and deaf mother, being around other people was new to Isabelle. What she has
gone through caused extreme psychological trauma. When the authorities came to examine her,
she was terrified and acted hostile. Not only that, her confinement for almost seven years also
took a toll on her physical health. Due to the lack of physical activities, sunlight, fresh air, and poor
food, Isabelle was diagnosed with rickets, a disease that weakens bones and affects an
individual's bone development. Her lack of exposure to sunlight may have caused the said
disease as the primary cause of it was the lack of Vitamin D and Calcium. Her legs were bowed
and bent to the extent that made her unable to walk.

After being thoroughly examined, doctors' findings show that Isabelle lacked intelligence.
For almost seven years, Isabelle had no one to talk to and only relies on the hand symbols and
actions of her mother to communicate. This results in having a speech impediment. She has six
years of education that is in need of catching up. Though doctors suggests that she could not be
educated, speech experts shoot their shot and attempted to teach her how to orally communicate.
At first, experts used pantomime and dramatization. This was the starting phase in developing
Isabelle's knowledge as she was used to using hand signals and actions as a medium of
communication. Eventually, Isabelle was able to identify toys by name, speak simple sentences,
write, and tell a story. She made such extreme progress. After years of therapy, Isabelle had
reached the average level of development for her age. Through the help of her doctors and
medical experts, she was able to learn six years' worth of developmental knowledge in just two
years. Moreover, they were also able to restore her physical health and helped her be able to
walk and run like a normal child.

Through time, Isabelle was eventually ready to socialize with her fellow children. She soon
entered a regular school where she can make remarkable progress. Overall, Isabelle was able to
cope with the atrocities that happened to her in the past. These events may have been cruel, but
they helped Isabelle to become a stronger child. The story of Isabelle is evidence that every child
has the ability to conquer the impossible and become extraordinary if they will just be guided well
and given their liberty.

II. Issues Involved

In this part of the paper, the following issues that emerged in the case were discussed.

A. Recklessness of Isabelle's Family

In the introductory part of the case, it was presented that the family of Isabelle's mother was the
one who decided to isolate both Isabelle and her mom. It was one of the most pressing issues
that can be immediately recognized in the case. The root cause of their isolation was Isabelle
being an "illegitimate child," a child who was born without the parents being married. As the
incident happened in the late 1930s, having an illegitimate child may be perceived as a shameful
act. In this regard, having a conservative society may have brought pressure on Isabelle's
supposed grandparents and is the reason why they were not in favor of illegitimate pregnancy.
However, looking at it from a different perspective, their act of isolating a child and a mother and
depriving them of their freedom to have normal lives is inhumane and an act of violence.

B. Deprivation of Human Rights

In the case presented, it can be clearly seen that Isabelle and her mother were deprived of basic
human rights. Being locked up in a closed, dark space is torture that has varying effects on the
victim. In the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, it includes that every
child shall have the right to health, education, family life, play and recreation, an adequate
standard of living, and to be protected from abuse and harm. If the case were to be viewed in this
modern time, their isolation is a serious issue and a violation of Human Rights.

C. Lack of Social and Physical Interaction Affecting the Child's Development

Isabelle was isolated for nearly seven years. In her isolation, she was only with her deaf mother
who cannot socially interact. A child being alone in an enclosed room for a long period of time
may cause varying effects not only on one's physical health but also on his/her psychological
health. As evident in the written report, Isabelle developed malnutrition and bone disease from
her isolation. Not only that, she did not develop social behavior and do not have the ability to
socialize with other people. This resulted in her wild actions when she was first brought to the
hospital to be examined.

In the theory of George Herbert Mead (n.d., as cited in SparkNotes, 2022), the sense of self was
developed through social experience and activities. With Isabelle being isolated for years, it may
have deeply affected her psychological health. Human beings are social beings. Individuals are
bound to discover themselves by communicating with other people and wandering the world, both
of which are impossible when you are locked up in a cold, dark, isolated room.

D. Medical Experts Easily Jumping to Conclusions

Isabelle was brought to a children's hospital after they have escaped from their isolation. After
multiple diagnoses, the doctors immediately jumped to the conclusion that Isabelle could not be
educated. Though this is a minor issue in the case, if Isabelle was not given the proper therapy
and psychological treatments, she could not have progressed and become a normal child.

III. Findings

After carefully analyzing the case, the following were the notable findings concluded.

A. Extreme Isolation for Years Weakens the Physical Health

The lack of physical activities and poor food consumption weakens Isabelle's body. Moreover,
being isolated in a cold dark room for years, deprived of sunlight weakens the bones and may
cause rickets. As per the case of Isabelle, her bones bowed to the point that she almost lost her
ability to walk due to her weak bones brought by the lack of Vitamin D, a vitamin often gained
from the rays of the sun.

B. Isolation Affects Cognition and Behavior

Being caged in a room deprives the ability of an individual to learn things about the outside world
and make discoveries. Isabelle was already six and a half years old when authorities get a hold
of her and her mom. However, since Isabelle was deprived of education and had nobody else to
socialize with, her knowledge did not develop as she grew old. With this, Isabelle's cognition when
she was rescued was similar to those of a baby. Furthermore, extreme isolation could change a
person's behavior. Being locked up like an animal can cause an individual to act like an animal.
In the case presented this claim was evident when Isabelle was first brought to the hospital. She
acted hostile like an animal in the wild. This instance may be caused by the lack of social
interaction and psychological trauma.

C. The People We Are With Can Shape Our Identity

Isabelle was only accompanied by her mother when they were locked up in isolation. Isabelle's
mother was deaf. When authorities brought Isabelle to a hospital to be examined. Isabelle does
not respond with speech hence why doctors once thought that she was also deaf like her mother.
This is evidence that the people around us may influence who we are, affecting how we act and
think. It is possible that Isabelle has mimicked how her mother behaves causing her to not
discover how to orally communicate.

D. Knowledge and Skills Can Be Acquired

Lastly, it is evident in the case that despite how low one's knowledge is, it can be improved through
repetition of training. Isabelle is proof that skills can be acquired through practice and knowledge
can be enhanced through learning.
IV. Recommendations

After thorough investigation, the following are the recommendations based on the information
obtained from the reading material.

1. It is recommended that the Philippine National Police will strengthen its fight against
violence against women and children by encouraging victims to share their cases and file
legal actions against abusers.
2. The Philippine Congress and Senate are suggested to pass laws that will extend the
penalty of imprisonment of people guilty of child abuse from 17 years and 4 months to 30
years of maximum imprisonment with higher to no bail. Implementing stricter laws gives a
high probability that cases of violence against children will decline.
3. It is also recommended that the Department of Education intensify the teaching of
children’s rights in the Social Studies subject for grade school. Furthermore, they shall
also extend the teaching of Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) for children to
develop good values and respect.
4. Different Non-Government Organizations focusing on human and children’s rights are also
called upon to maximize their resources to raise awareness against the fight for violence
against women and children and human rights violations.
5. Finally, Hospitals are also recommended to enhance their facilities and services on
providing speech and physical therapy for children.

V. References (Related Studies)

The main issue that can be reflected in the case of Isabelle is her prolonged isolation and
confinement in a bizarre space together with her mother. If recalled, Isabelle was locked up and
deprived of freedom for almost her whole toddler and child life. As a result, it brought various
psychological and physical effects. According to Nelson et al. (2019), experience plays a vital
role in developing our minds. Such experiences are often done socially since we humans,
especially children, are in need of interaction with other people. In their study, they focused on
how Psychosocial Deprivation affects the development of a human. Based on their findings, they
suggest that if a child was left isolated for its first few months of life they may experience delays
and impairments in behavior. Moreover, they have added that a deprived child may exhibit
symptoms of anxiety and depression. They may also exhibit cognitive deficits, specifically (1)
poorer spatial memory, and (2) reduced interest in novelty. These claims were also backed by
Reshetnikov in his article in 2017 where he suggested that “the human brain cannot develop
without early interaction with the social environment.”

Expanding on the fact that prolonged isolation could hinder the ability to expand one’s
knowledge, a study by Vyshedskiy et al. (2017) suggests that the acquisition of language or
speech affects one’s ability to learn. They have concluded that without the exposure of a child to
“syntactic” language, they do not acquire mental synthesis, the ability of which ideas and images
are combined of a single thought. Vyshedskiy et al. suggested that children shall be dealing with
toys, drawing, and puzzles by their first several years enable to enhance their mental synthesis.
 Overall, these related studies and articles prove that being deprived of freedom and the
ability to socialize and explore the world affects our overall development, not just physically, but
also psychologically, cognitively, and behaviorally. All studies also explain why Isabelle acted in
a such bizarre way when she was first rescued.

VI. Bibliography

Nelson, C. A., Zeanah, C. H., & Fox, N. A. (2019). How Early Experience Shapes Human
Development: The Case of Psychosocial Deprivation. Neural Plasticity, 2019, 1–12.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/1676285

Reshetnikov MM. (2017). Problem of Relation Between Brain and Mind in Physiology, Medicine
and Psychology. Journal of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Disorders, 1(6), 313–316.
https://www.fortuneonline.org/articles/problem-of-relation-between-brain-and-mind-in-
psysiology-medicine-and-psychology.html

Vyshedskiy, A., Shreyas, M., & Dunn, R. (2017). Linguistically deprived children: meta-analysis
of published research underlines the importance of early syntactic language use for
normal brain development. https://doi.org/10.1101/166538

Other resources used:

What are Children’s Rights? | Children’s Rights Alliance. (2016). Childrensrights.ie.

https://childrensrights.ie/childrens-rights-ireland/childrens-rights-ireland

UNICEF. (1989). THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD.
https://www.unicef.org/media/60981/file/convention-rights-child-text-child-friendly-
version.pdf

Socialization Primary Socialization Summary & Analysis | SparkNotes. (2022). SparkNotes.

https://www.sparknotes.com/sociology/socialization/section1/#:~:text=Mead’s%20Theory
%20of%20Social%20Behaviorism,a%20product%20of%20social%20experience.