Hysteria of Salem witch trial in comparison to the 1980s day care case Term Paper

madness of Salem witch trial in comparison to the 1980s day care case hysteria, - verge Paper ExamplePeasants used witchcraft to invoke charms for agriculture and farming, which gradually transformed from white trick into dark magic with a growing association with evil spirits and demons. With an increasing association of superstitions with the devil, incidents of witchcraft persecutions also increased rapidly, causing panic that led to aggressive witch hunts (Adams 69). On the other hand, the daycare sex abuse hysteria of the 1980s was in the form of panic that featured claims of child abuse, specifically sexual abuse, and satanic ritual abuse against providers of daycare (Malloy, Lyon & Quas 164). As more mothers ventured into employment and had to be out-of-door from home, a large number of daycare centers opened up to care for their children. However, an outstanding case in Californias Kern County started a wave of panic, lasting for nearly a decade. Characterized by unlike ly accusations of children being sexually molested, the panic spread out of the United States to New Zealand, Canada and some countries in europium (Malloy, Lyon & Quas 164). The most prominent cases in the United States were Kern County child abuse cases McMartin preschool trial Fells Acre twenty-four hours wish Center Wee Care Nursery School Cleveland child abuse scandal and Little Rascals Day Care Center (Malloy, Lyon & Quas 165). ... The two sets of trials originated from the behaviors of children and the statements they issued. Driven by hysteria, parents and doctors interpreted the statements and behaviors in extremely portentous and big(a) ways, rather than innocent and rational interpretations. It is the panic that led the people to believe the remotely conceivable accusations laid by children, ignoring all the inconsistencies as narrated by either scared, confused or preconditioned children. In both(prenominal) sets, literature analyses show that the prosecutors were asking leading questions. Repetitive questioning led to multiplication of the accusations and with the heightened spread of the hysteria, thither were new targets of the accusations. Most of them were those that defended the accused or showed cynicism about the charges. The hysteria and bias against the accused in both sets of trials led the prosecutors and investigators to find meaning in very unlikely places. For example, in the Salem trials, the investigators concluded that a mole on an accused persons body was an entry or sucking speckle for evil spirits and demons. On the other hand, it was concluded that drawing hands by children on situate figures was evidence of them having been molested in the daycare cases. Another unlikely conclusion in the daycare cases drawn was that the hate of tuna fish by a child was caused by exposure to vaginal odor (Malloy, Lyon & Quas 162). The pressure level and use of leading questions by the investigators rendered the investigations themsel ves as the roots of multiple problems. Effectively, the accused were faced with the burden of proving their confess innocence in both sets of trials. For example, in the Salem trials, the