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SOC 3290 Deviance
Lecture 4: The Demonic Perspective:
To many of us, otherworldly or supernatural explanations of deviance seem like something from another time. Yet, as the recent story of the so-called “possession” brought forth to explain the murder at the beginning of this week’s chapter reveals, such ideas are far from dead in today’s society (e.g. the religious right).
In the West, it has been several centuries since such ideas were mainstream - albeit powerful - explanation of the causes, consequences and control of deviant behavior. The breakthrough into essentially secular, naturalistic explanations can be traced to changes beginning in the 14th-15th centuries (the reformation, followed by the enlightenment, modern science and technology, capitalism, and secularization). As time went on, sectors of society, culture and individuals became progressively removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols.
So why do we begin consideration of theoretical perspectives on deviance with a perspective whose dominance is mostly in the past? There are several answers: (1) these ideas are not entirely absent from our society; (2) In order to fully understand more recent theories, it is important to consider earlier ideas which they emerged as a response to; (3) critics of modern secular theories have argued that some of these are merely the old demonic perspective in a new guise - so we must evaluate the demonic perspective first.
Theoretical Images:
The oldest of all known perspectives on deviance, the demonic perspective suggests that we look for the cause and cure of deviant behavior in the realm of the supernatural. Deviance is equated with sin, viewed as a transgression of the will of God (or the Gods). The human world is seen as but a battleground for the forces of another, more powerful supernatural world, and we are seen as constantly torn between supernatural forces of good and evil. When we succumb to the influence of evil forces, we are drawn into deviant behavior. This occurs in two ways: (1) temptation; and (2) possession.
Temptation is said to seduce us by the allure of evil (e.g. Eve’s temptation by Satan). This affords us humans some measure of choice. In principle we can say no. Yet, “following our ancestral fall from grace, we are said to be weakened and seducible by the multiple forms taken by the devil (e.g. sloth, anger, lust, pride, envy, gluttony, greed, etc.).
Possession is more determinant. A possessed person is believed to be literally taken over by the devil or some evil spirit. Once possessed, a person may be viewed as no longer responsible - as no longer able to choose how one behaves (e.g. during the Salem witch trials,
those perceived as “possessed” were to be given “spiritual assistance,” while the “witches” were to be burned).
Yet, even though one of these routes is less deterministic than the other, behind both paths to demonic deviance lurks the devil.
One other thing should be considered in this regard: the so-called cosmic consequences of deviance. Under this perspective, deviant acts are seen to harm more than a particular or immediate victim. Each act is also a transgression against God, indeed against the whole order of nature and all who comprise it. As such, the vested interests of all are clearly linked to the control of deviance. Peace and order will not be restored until the guilty pay the price for their demonic acts. Identifying Demonic Deviance:
In societies where demonic conceptions of deviance are dominant, there are a number of “methods” used to identify demonic influence. For example, among judicial proceedings of the Kabre of northern Togo, “diviners” are consulted - individuals who are believed to possess a God-given “second sight” enabling them to trace the origin of evil spirits and spells (much like psychiatrists in our criminal trials). If challenged, the accused may then be subjected to a painful trial by ordeal, which, if s/he survives, may be declared innocent.
Trial by ordeal was also commonly practised during the medieval period in the West. This generally involved torture, presided over by priests or other representatives of the divine will here on earth. Admissions of deviance were literally produced by the disembodiment of deviants from their present sinful state. Since it was believed God fortified the innocent to persevere, it was often possible that the innocent would ultimately be vindicated only by their endurance until death.
While this may seem horrific, it is important to note that there was nothing particularly sacred about the body during this time - there was little profit in preserving the body at the expense of the soul. Indeed, horrible as their actions were, they were evidently convinced that they were doing the work of God.
Another method commonly used during this period was trial by battle. Since it was believed that the justice of God was mirrored in natural events, the good person would inevitably be victorious and the deviant would fall. While generally reserved for the wealthy and those of high status, this, in tandem with trial by ordeal, served to diagnose the handiwork of the devil.
Colonial America:
In England, and later Colonial America, inquisitional techniques were largely absent due to the system of common law permitting trial by jury, separation of prosecution and judge, the right to confront one’s accusers, and the right of appeal. Hence, the British system identified “the
prevent the spirits escaping and causing more harm (e.g. breaking on the wheel, casting ashes to the wind, drawing and quartering, hanging until the body rots, etc.). Of course, those of higher status didn’t have these things done as often (e.g. were more often beheaded).
Public Spectacles:
The purgative and symbolic dimensions of demonic punishment were nowhere more evident than in spectacles of public execution: where death was neither swift nor efficient. Known as the “ritual of a thousand deaths,” this involved application of purifying pain inch by inch to the demonically infested body, with death but the last step in the restoration of supernatural order.
Other control rituals, however, were more representational in nature: symbolizing the supernatural subjugation of the body without taking pain to its human limits (e.g. being publicly shamed by putting one in the stocks; being branded with the “scarlet letter”). Other symbolic rituals of penance were self-imposed (e.g. parading barefoot begging God’s forgiveness, public self-flagellation). In both ways, the shameful stigma of demonic deviance was placed on the sinner as s/he journeyed through this world to the next.
Both kinds of punishment relied on two additional elements of religious control: (1) a reliance on centralized authority; and (2) the local or community nature of control practice.
Centralized Authority:
The demonic perspective centralized the control of deviance in the hand of religious authorities. Divinely ordained officials administer ritual punishments that purge offenders of demonic influence and restore God’s blessing upon the entire community of the faithful. In some respects this is an advance - since it restricts the arbitrary nature of revenge by feuding. However, it also ruled out the reconciliatory control rituals existing in earlier, more egalitarian societies in favour of centralized authority.
This development emerged as changes in technology permitted groups to create an economic surplus above and beyond what was needed for simple material survival. This enables some members of society to become full-time managers of the labour and social activities of others. For the first time, power was hierarchically arranged, and this brought a whole new strategy of control driving an institutional wedge through the equalitarian cooperation and reconciliation that was formerly so prominent. Moreover, in its earliest form, centralized authority was justified by divine precept. Just at the moment in history when technological changes made centralized control a material possibility, God’s voices were heard by “his” prophets, “chosen” to rule in “his” name. Soon an elaborate religious organization arises, complete with authorized agents and an official code specifying who can do what, when, where and why. Such codes also specify what is to be done to the deviants who violate them - legitimately defining the institutionalized social inequalities ushered into history with the advent
of centralized authority.
Community Control:
While justified by the principle of centralized religious authority, supernaturally ordained control rituals are practically administered within local communities. People who violated the laws of God were to be dealt with locally, purged in public as visible reminders of the ever- present struggle between God and the devil (e.g. local “lunatics” and “idiots” wandered the streets, cared for by family and community). Only exceptionally burdensome deviants and those without any supportive ties were housed under the same roof with others (e.g. small religious hospitals and local, privately administered jails).
The public administration of punishment was also a manifestation of the commitment to community control during this period. All were invited and frequently required to witness the ceremonies of bodily penance by which the whole community was restored to grace (e.g. executions, mutilations, being banned from the community (“outlawry”), being fined depending on the status of the victim). All symbolized the importance of the local community in its immediate and direct responsibility for its own body of deviants - punishing most, while physically or symbolically removing the bodies of the worst.
Heterosexist Patriarchy and Religious Control:
It is today evident that Western use of demonic imagery have valued abstract male ideas about the purity of spiritual forms over the sacredness of womens’ bodily experiences (e.g. “God the father”). The male bias of dominant Western religious thinking is evident in many of the founding texts of the Judeo-Christian tradition, as well as in the fact that over 80% of the 1- million “witches” hunted down and burned between the 15-18th centuries were women. This is evidence of a patriarchal logic at work within dominant forms of western religion.
Paganism, the target of these witch hunts, moreover, is a religious practice which honours the earth as the “Great Mother” or the “Goddess” - emphasizing the spiritual significance of women and the rhythms of nature. Since the late Middle Ages, pagan peoples have been ruthlessly attacked, destroyed or driven underground - equated with Satanism or devil worship. High on the list were women who had rejected heterosexual marriage, widows, natural healers and midwives. Such women were accused of heresies and superstitions, feared because they lived outside the heterosexual hierarchies and logical imperatives of patriarchal social control. Also condemned were gay men, lesbians, and others who refused to honour the heterosexist inequalities of “blessed” family life (e.g. gays, then known as “faggots,” were used as kindling to ignite the pyres used to burn witches).
While condemned as heretical, paganism represented a primary form of religion for many common Europeans until the late middle ages. It was not until the 12th^ century that the Church was in a military position to launch an all-out attack. Following the crusades, Christian military
“deviantize” certain forms of social oppression, domination or injustice (e.g. the Civil Rights Movement; Antiwar movement, Liberation Theology, etc.) Naturally, those with vested interests don’t always like such scriptural interpretations, and respond at times with violence.
Assessment of the Demonic Perspective:
Judged by the naturalistic standards of the secular, modern world, the demonic perspective is very inadequate. It relies on belief rather than on observable fact and is thus said to be totally untestable.
Yet it is important to note that it is not dead - and as such may be usefully observed in various contemporary sociological phenomena (e.g. state laws regulating the debate over creationism vs. evolution being fought about in court by civil liberties groups and state officials).
Without challenging anyone’s religious faith, there are distinct analytical advantages to suspending a supernatural view of the world and taking a rigorous naturalistic look on the study of deviance and social control: (1) we are able to critically examine the ways thing in this world impact on one another (e.g. aspects of the body or social organization, whether and how they impact on the incidence of deviant behavior). These things are valuable to find out regardless of the nature of our religious beliefs. We can’t, however, discover much about them until we suspend our commitment to a demonic perspective.
Naturalistic Observations About Spiritual Perspectives:
Some have attempted to explain historical evens, such as the Salem witch trials, in other ways (e.g. psychoanalytically, as caused by unconscious sexual frustration). Yet, such interpretations attempt to explain how invisible things which most people no longer believe in may be explained by a new order of invisible things more acceptable to the modern mind. How is it that the invisible things of psychiatry are today more believable than the invisible things of demonology? There are many parallels here - the avoidance of responsibility, the deference to expert opinion, etc.
Other naturalistic accounts have taken a different tack - that the belief systems of colonial puritans assumed that witches were real, so they became real in their consequences for society.
But why did this occur in 1692 New England? Kai Erikson traces this to various social disruptions in the Puritan community: (1) the revocation of their legal charter by the British government, precipitating an economic crisis; (2) the new wave of religious tolerance sweeping across Europe constituting a threat to their experiment in religious orthodoxy; (3) Shifts in the religious orthodoxy of the group from a sense of dependence on God to some asserting an ordained mastery over their surroundings. All of these things encouraged intensive internal dissention against a backdrop of spiritual malaise. Moreover, given the patriarchal climate and religious imagery, at a time of economic hardship when the male mastery over events seemed
least secure, it isn’t surprising that the “devil” came in the form of “bewitching” women.
More generally, in Catholic Europe the Malleus Maleficarium simultaneously encouraged the stereotype of witches as female, led to many horrific ritual punishments of largely lower class women, and distracted people from noticing the contribution of church officials to the perpetuation of medieval poverty. There was a difference in England, however, related to the less repressive social control machinery (trial vs. inquisition; property confiscation vs. not).
Such analyses, while not explaining away demonic belief, make it possible to situate them in the social and historical contexts in which they were used. This is done by suspending judgement about the truth of the demonic perspective and considering it as something influenced by - and influencing - a wide range of other cultural, political, and economic things by which the social world is organized. This also is productive of useful research questions, such as why a revival of demonic imagery arose in the 1970's -80's (e.g. a similarly “disrupted society” after Vietnam, Watergate, economic crises, and counter-reaction to the secular, individualistic 1960's).
Spiritual Observations:
We must also reexamine naturalistic analysis in terms of its supernaturalistic dimensions. That doesn’t mean returning to a demonic perspective. Rather, it is pointing to the fact that naturalistic viewpoints often lack any perspective with which to judge the “evils of the modern world.” Noted sociologist Stanford Lyman feels that many evils are found in the foundational bedrock of society itself. Similarly Richard Quinney suggest that we currently occupy a “sacred void,” and that the material and social problems of our existence are amplified by the unthinkability of spiritual questions. We need a new religious concern which not only repudiates the essential secularity of capitalism, but makes socialism whole by integration of the sacred void. Tifft and Sullivan argue that social control by others denies us responsibility, and thereby our “spiritual homes” - the ability to become part of the process we create. Finally, bridges between sacred understanding and naturalistic control processes are embodied by people committed to maintaining or reexamining the values of pagan worldviews and practices (e.g. in the third world; in the resurging interest in Goddess-centred feminist spiritualities that contrast with traditional, patriarchal social control practices, lack of respect for diversity, the commodification of the body, and disrespect for nature).
In different ways, these writers remind us to temper the naturalistic analysis of deviance with an awareness of the moral, spiritual, and cosmic nature of the subject matter. At bottom, the demonic perspective informs us that the control of deviance is first and foremost a battle between good and evil - who gets to name the good and control the bad. This is overlooked or covered up by the neutral-sounding language of some of our more “modern perspectives.” Let us not be fooled: deviance is - and always has been - a moral battle in which the winners are declared saints and the losers sinners.
