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.
(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