The Witch Hunt as a Culture Change Phenomenon

Abstract

WITCH HUNTS & OTHER PERSECUTORY MOVEMENTS ARE REFLECTIVE OF & AGENTS OF SOCIOCULTURAL CHANGE. THEY ORIGINATE, AS DO REVITALIZATION MOVEMENTS, FROM CHANGES IN THE CULTURAL GESTALTS OF INDIVIDUALS & GROUPS CAUSED BY SITUATIONS OF CHRONIC CULTURAL DISTORTION & DISORGANIZATION. UNLIKE REVITALIZATION MOVEMENTS, HOWEVER, THE CHANGE INVOLVES A DYSFUNCTIONAL INNOVATIVE ATTEMPT TO PRESERVE ESTABLISHED CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS & SR BY SEEKING THE LOCUS OF MISFORTUNE IN SOME GROUP OTHER THAN THE EXISTING POWERS. THIS TYPE OF CHANGE IN GESTALT, CALLED REORIENTATION, GIVES RI0E TO EXPLANATIONS OF MISFORTUNE (DEMONOLOGIES) THAT SCAPEGOAT REAL OR IMAGINED SUBGROUPS. WITCH HUNTS ARE THE RESULTANT ATTEMPTS TO REMOVE THE PERCEIVED SOCIAL MENANCE; THEY CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIAL CHANGE & FURTHER DISORGANIZATION BY ALTERING & DISRUPTING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CULTURAL GROUPS & INDIVIDUALS. THE SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES OF DEMONOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS & THE INITIAL ADVANTAGES OF WITCH HUNTS ENSURE THAT SUCH MOVEMENTS ARE TEMPORARILY SELF-PERPETUATING. THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF INCREASED CHANGE & DISORGANIZATION HOWEVER, EVENTUALLY CONTRIBUTE TO A PARADIGM SHIFT THAT BRINGS THE WITCH HUNTS INTO DISREPUTE WHILE PRESERVING BITS OF THEIR DEMONOLOGY. 2 TABLES, 1 FIGURE. AA (Copyright 1976, Sociological Abstracts, Inc., all rights reserved.)