Explain Kai Erikson’s theory about the Salem witch trials. How did they reinforce group cohesion and group boundaries? How is this situation similar to the threat of terrorism today?
What will be an ideal response?
Erikson argued in Wayward Puritans that at times of weakness and
uncertainty, the perception of a threat can serve to draw the group together. The
experience of weak cohesion may lead people to perceive threats to begin with.
So what turned some old women in Salem into witches was not their practice of
witchcraft, but rather the people of Salem’s practice of group cohesion in an
uncertain time. This helped the settlement to establish boundaries in a new land
without a certain social order. This is similar to terrorism today as groups form
protest against a perceived threat to have a comforting feeling of certainty which
is hard to find in a risk society.
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