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The American Journal of Psychiatry, VOL. 126, No. 12

Articles | June 01, 1970

The History of Witchcraft: A Review with Some Psychiatric Comments

ROBERT D. ANDERSON

Am J Psychiatry 1970;126:1727-1735.

Clinical instructor in psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine, and acting chief, Mental Hygiene Clinic, Veterans Administration Hospital, Seattle

1970, American Psychiatric Association

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Abstract

Witchcraft, held to be an anti-Christian heresy with evil supernatural powers, is distinguished from common superstition and reviewed. The author suggests individual and group psychodynamics to explain the delusion, its inclusion of perverse sexuality, and its treatment by sadistic aggression. Opponents of the delusion are mentioned, and the role of mental illness among both the persecutors and the persecuted is defined.

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