2. Women, Children, and Heinous Accusations April 11, 2001

3. Two episodes The witchcraft craze of Salem, 1692 (accused mainly women, accusers mainly men) The outbreak of Satanic child abuse accusations, 1983-1987 (both accusers and accused were mainly women) The argument: accusations were a way of relieving the anxieties created by the emergence of new roles for women in society

4. Salem Carol Karsten, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman 1688 and the widow Glover 1692: rapid spread, fires stoked by Cotton Mather The extent of the accusations: by end of 1692, 200 accused, (150 women), 20 killed. The end of the accusations: accusations spread to high-status men, including Mather himself

5. What were the accusations? Causing sickness and death in children Causing miscarriage, childbirth fatality, monstrous births having sex with children (the devil) eating children’s flesh

6. Placing such accusations in larger context Threatened groups commonly accuse enemies or scapegoats of performing heinous acts on and with children –Mundurucu accuse enemy villages –Romans accused Christians –Russians accused Jews –French accused Turks and North Africans –US accused Communists

7. Who were the accused? Women who found themselves outside of normative, traditional roles for women –out of direct mothering roles –Women who were relatively independent of men property-holding women with no brothers or sons traders strong personalities

8. The social contradiction of 17th century New England and Salem Ideology of Puritanism –the Apostle Paul’s strictures –role of women (Cotton Mather) The reality of the increase of women outside of men’s control –warfare: widowhood and singleness –urbanization: more rural women alone –decline of primogeniture and shrinking size of families: more women holding more property

9. Special tensions in Salem Salem overcrowded: competition for land was keen 20% more property-owning women in Salem than elsewhere men especially resentful and worried about women’s power –some fathers broke with custom and started leaving larger shares of land to sons

10. So why witchcraft accusations? Main interpretation: men feared and resented growing independence of of women the accusations expressed this fear and resentment may also have acted as an attempt to frighten women back into submission

11. Day-care and ritual child abuse, 1983-1987 The McMartin School –Judy Johnson’s life –The trouble with Matthew –The police chief goes for broke –The rapid spread of satanic accusation The spread of cases nationally –Michigan, Colorado –Iowa, Chicago

12. Trials, verdicts, and evidence Verdicts until 1988 –250 people summarily charged, tried, and convicted on children’s statements alone, sentences from between 10 years to life –over $200 million spent The problem of evidence –The 1994 federal study –the abuses of evidence

13. The 1989-1992 appeals Cases overturned the lack of protection before the law (Walter Mondale’s 1972 law)

14. What caused this modern witchcraft craze? The demographic growth in 1970s of two- earner families the hinge period of 1980-1985 Interpreting the accusations –the newness of daycare for many –Christian fundamentalism weighs in –the projection of guilt –recreating nurturance

15. Conclusion Tituba again? It CAN happen here! A book to read: Debbie Nathan, Satan's silence : ritual abuse and the making of a modern American witch hunt