Exploring Social Group Formation
Eliana Biggers
In the short story “St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell, social group formation as well as social exclusion is present among the wolf girls at St. Lucy's. The pack of girls begin as one united group who share the common identity of being a wolf. As the story progresses and the girls become more and more assimilated to their new human culture, differences begin to arise within the pack. Jeanette becomes well adapted to the new human culture, excelling at writing, reading, and speaking. Mirabella could not adapt to being a human and continued to growl like a wolf. Both Jeanette and Mirabella were disliked and rejected by the original pack of wolf girls.
This is an example of one of the many processes of social exclusion based on social identity. To learn more, view the slideshow below:
