Anushka Ravishankar
The dark history of abnormal psychology may not be debated, but sufficient efforts have not been made to acknowledge some of the atrocities that have been allowed to occur. First and foremost however, one must ask why were they allowed to occur? Through the passage of time, what is considered abnormal, what it means, and how to deal with it, has reflected the beliefs and values of society at that given time. This dynamic character of ‘abnormality’ can be advantageous, but has in the past led to horrific tragedies when pseudo-scientific and superstitious beliefs formed the lens through which many things were understood (Hooley et al., 2021).
The Salem Witch Trials in 17th century colonial Massachusetts was an unfortunate event resulting from fear, superstition and misunderstanding surrounding the ‘abnormal’. In the span of a year, over 200 individuals were accused of practising witchcraft while 20 were convicted and executed (Blumberg, 2007). Since then, the popular imagination has been fascinated with the events that transpired. However, for the psychologist, it is all the more interesting because of the abnormal behaviours displayed by the accusers and the victims labelled as ‘witches’. Dr. Beatriz Quintanilla, PhD. (2010) published an article in The Psychiatric Times about her interpretation of the behaviours in Salem Witch Trials from a medical point of view. She argues that the behaviours viewed as witchcraft in the times of the Trials were more likely cases of neurological or psychiatric disorders like epilepsy and hysteria. In this article, her argument will be considered critically and evaluated as a sufficient psychological explanation for the abnormal behaviour of women in Salem.
In order to understand what was considered abnormal by the citizens of 17th century Salem, one must first understand their social and historical context. Salem was established by refugees fleeing King William’s War in upstate New York, Nova Scotia and Quebec. This displacement of people created a dearth of resources and resulted in an aggravation of existing rivalries between agriculturalists and those with access to wealth from Salem’s ports. Feuds over land and litigiousness were commonplace as tensions escalated. Salem village, guided by their Puritan beliefs blamed evil forces and the work of the Devil for the ensuing political conflict. Another important social factor of the time was the strong patriarchal nature of society and the subjugation of women, and the tradition of slavery and import of slaves from the Carribean and African Subcontinent (Brooks, 2022).
It was in this context that young women began displaying strange fits of screaming, throwing things, making incomprehensible sounds, contorting their bodies into odd positions and complaining of biting and pinching sensations. They then accused others of doing the Devil’s bidding by practising witchcraft and inflicting torment on them. They also claimed that the witches approached them in dreams and visions as animals to torture them. The accused were convicted if ‘witch’s marks’ were found on them, they had prior conflicts, had committed sins according to Puritan doctrine, were in possession of materials used in ‘spells’ or were unable to recite the Lord’s prayer (The Salem Witch Trials 2020).
The townsfolk of Salem had no explanation other than the supernatural for the events that took place between June 1692 and May 1693. Dr. Quintanilla in her article describes the underlying assumption that “women were more prone to diabolical possession because they were weaker and imperfect in nature than men” (Quintanilla, 2020) to have led the people to ascribe the abnormal behaviour to witchcraft. She then claims that it was in fact epilepsy and hysteria that Salem confused with witchcraft. The symptoms displayed by the accusers fit the criteria of “altered voluntary motor or sensory function” in the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), thereby suggesting cases of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures or hysteria (what is now better known as ‘Conversion Disorder’ under ‘Somatic Symptom and Related Disorder’). However, underlying neurological or medical conditions cannot be ruled out since such an examination was never carried out. Furthermore, a diagnosis of conversion disorder does not explain the symptoms of having visions and dreams of the accused. An alternative explanation of poisoning by toxic organic compounds like ergot, also cannot be entirely ruled out (Bartholomew and Wessely, 2018).
The women who were accused on the other hand, were identified as witches mainly based on accusations and behaviour that was considered inappropriate for women at that point in time. These women tended to be slaves, impoverished, homeless, widowed, sharp-tongued and outspoken (Wallenfeldt, 2022). Possessing these characteristics did not fit the misogynistic view of the ‘ideal woman’ of 17th century Salem Village, thereby leading to their labelling as witches and persecution. The societal ideology that led strong women to be burned at the stake illustrates the completely mistaken belief in witchcraft and the unlikeliness that these ‘witches’ were suffering from any mental illness that influenced their behaviour. The social context also provides an explanation for the behaviour of the accusers as an alternative to psychological illness. The young women who condemned people to their death could have feigned being tormented in order to wield power over individuals they or their families had vendettas against. Given the powerless state of young women and the feuding over resources in the town, the accusers may have chosen to put on an act that inspired fear and simultaneously settled personal scores.
While Dr. Quintanilla’s thesis on psychological illness remains plausible, it is not a sufficiently supported explanation for abnormal behaviour in Salem due to the inability to rule out alternatives like underlying neurological conditions, poisoning by toxic compounds and feigned illness. Nonetheless, the historical event of the Salem Witch Trials holds invaluable teachings for the world today. For one, the dark history of the way in which abnormality has been seen and treated needs to be acknowledged. Additionally, social groups need to introspect about the consequences of the values, beliefs and criteria that inform their conception of abnormality. Most importantly, communities should establish moral tenets by which to abide regardless of what or who they consider to be abnormal, like do no harm, protect from harm and emphasise scientific inquiry and rationality as opposed to pseudo-science and superstition.
Word Count: 995
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorder. In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed., pp. 318–321), from https://cdn.website-editor.net/30f11123991548a0af708722d458e476/files/uploaded/DSM%2520V.pdf
Blumberg, J. (2007, October 23). A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/#:~:text=The%20Salem%20witch%20trials%20occurred,the%20families%20of%20those%20convicted.
Brooks, R. B. (2022, August 21). The Salem Witch Trials Victims: Who were they? History of Massachusetts. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://historyofmassachusetts.org/salem-witch-trials-victims/
Hooley, J. M., Nock, M. K., & Butcher, J. N. (2021). Chapter 2: Historical and Contemporary Views on Abnormal Psychology. In Abnormal psychology (15th ed., pp. 30–54). essay, Pearson.
Quintanilla, B. (2020, November 16). Witchcraft or mental illness? Psychiatric Times. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/witchcraft-or-mental-illness
The Salem Witch Trials. The University of Chicago Library. (2020). Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/collex/exhibits/salem-witch-trials-legal-resources/
Wallenfeldt, J. (2022). Salem Witch Trials. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Salem-witch-trials
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