Feb 29, Salem Witch Trials: Today in the History of Psychology (29th February 1692)

In a defining moment in the infamous Salem Witch Trials, arrest warrants were issued for Sarah Osborne (an elderly woman,) Sarah Good (a homeless beggar,) and Tituba (a Caribbean slave) on the charge of witchcraft against four girls who were declared under an "evil hand." As events escalated, more than 150 Salem residents were accused of witchcraft, Nineteen 'witches' were hanged, and one defendant, Giles Corey, was crushed to death for refusing to enter a plea at his trial. Five other residents, including a young child died in prison. Various psychological explanations have been put forward to try and make sense of the rapidly escalating and increasing deadly chain of events; including mass hysteria, groupthink and Munchausen's syndrome (a psychological condition where someone pretends to be ill or induces symptoms of illness in themselves,) which proponents suggest may account for the "fits," sacrilegious verbal outbursts and other bizarre "symptoms" exhibited by 11-year-old Abigail Williams, 9 year-old Betty Parris, and other girls, which led to accusations of witchcraft being made in the first place. Arguably the most compelling claim, however, as outlined by behavioral psychologist Linnda Caporael in the prestigious journal Science in 1976 is that convulsive ergotism, a disorder resulting from the ingestion of grain contaminated with ergot, may have instigated the witchcraft delusion. As Caporael notes, "Without knowledge of ergotism and confronted by convulsions, men...
Source: Forensic Psychology Blog - Category: Forensic Medicine Source Type: blogs