"Wayward Puritans"

Paper Summary:

This paper introduces and discusses "Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance" by Kai T. Erickson. Specifically, it presents an extra chapter to "Wayward Puritans", demonstrating how the study illustrates the social-control approach to deviance. The Puritan society of early New England is an excellent example of how a small society carefully controlled deviant behavior that frightened them.

From the Paper:

"Fearful of witches and the black arts, the society encouraged members to turn on each other in the name of "confession." Erickson writes, "As they [the possessed girls] became caught up in the enthusiasm of their new work, then, the girls began to reach into every corner of the community in a search for likely suspects." The community encouraged this behavior in their maniacal search for deviants in league with the Devil, and this shows how the community's beliefs and fears controlled the deviant behavior. Anyone could be accused, and so, the rest of the community had to strictly adhere to every Puritan policy, or become suspect themselves."

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• Comparison Essay # 11838 : "Wayward Puritans"

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