Early American Witches – Witch Hunts: The Impact of Fear

By Cathy Hartt, DNP, MS, RN,
Human minds grapple with fear everyday – it is how the human mind is wired.  We are taught by our parents to be afraid of people who are different.  It is protective – a survival skill.  This fear is also the basis of racism, abuse and terrorism.  It is certainly the basis for witch-hunts.

Studying the witch-hunts brings to mind a picture of the pioneer of total quality management, W. Edwards Deming. The scenario of a Salem courtroom where fear spread to an entire community, surely,  would have confirmed his conclusions about the impact of fear.  Deming taught that true quality (happy workers, quality products/services, and satisfied customers) could only happen after an organization “drives fear out.”  

Salem’s Reverend Parris attempted to capitalize on fear when he preached about the witches that abounded in Salem.  He encouraged citizens to point fingers and name neighbors as witches with the unspoken threat that they be named themselves.  In our last article, we also pointed out that the Puritans were in a new land and were surrounded by elements (both real and spiritual) that made them fearful of their “new mother country”.

One can almost predict, based on knowledge of modern day quality improvement, that many families would leave Salem after the witch-hunts. Historically, property values plummeted, taking years to re-stabilize.  The analogy is to a deteriorating company that failed to produce a healthy work environment, quality products/services and satisfied customers.  The question we will be looking to answer in this article is “what paradoxes exist when comparing a healthy environment (where continuous improvement and learning are encouraged) to the witch-hunt (where fear predominates)?”

With little analysis, it is clear that Salem was based on a stick hierarchy with top-down decisions.  There was also a belief that someone’s entry into Heaven was predestined, so no matter how hard people tried, it made no real difference in their afterlife.  This is a sharp contrast to the advent of team-lead companies who believe in an abundance of opportunity.  And, that such opportunity comes to life through empowering each and every individual through shared leadership. Imagine how different it would be from this to stand in the back of an unheated church on a bitter cold New England winter Sunday as an adolescent woman – knowing that where you stand symbolizes the lowest status in the community. This was the exact situation of the young Salem girls before they became afflicted with seizures and began naming witches.  This meant they had the lowest status and least input of any of the Salem citizens.

Another element that surfaces in Salem is the win/loose situation around the selection of the new minister (Parris) prior to his arrival in the community. Two committees were formed in the local church – a Pro-Parris Committee and an Anti-Parris Committee.  Most of those on the Anti-Parris Committee were later tried as witches, whereas none of those on the Pro-Parris Committee were “named.”  Again, this contains a stark contrast to the quality management of our time, where win/win solutions that synergise people are seen to yield the most favorable approaches for all.   

Of course, there is the whole issue of the status of women and minorities in Salem.  Both were viewed as further from God and, therefore, more likely to become evil.  This, in-turn, can be contrasted to the trend towards honoring and learning from diversity that many successful corporations currently embrace.

Quality improvement also looks at ways to eliminate finger-pointing and views most “paranormal” events as systems problems instead of bad people.  Some have termed this replacing witch-hunts with why hunts. It is often the team, not the hierarchy, that investigates the underlying problems and develops creative, win/win solutions.  This way, people are encouraged to share “what went wrong” instead of fearing blame and punishment if they are honest.  

Fear has a propensity to put up walls and closes down communication. Perhaps there is no better example of of the impact of a fear-driven environment than Salem, MA 1692.  It is an interesting side note that most of the afflicted girls (accusers) went on to lead short, unhappy lives.

It is unhealthy for everyone to live in an environment of oppression and fear.  As Americans, perhaps there is no better time to reflect on this than post September 11th, remembering the road to success lies in driving out fear and honoring the gifts of every individual who shares our vision of freedom.