Popular Posts

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

Conceptions of Abnormality: a Short History

Ancient Societies: Deviance and the Supernatural
We know little about the handling of deviant behaviour in ancient--especially North American societies. However, what we do know suggests that our early ancestors regarded deviant behaviour, like most other things they did not understand, as the product of remote or supernatural forces--the movements of the stars, the vengeance of the gods, the operation of evil spirits. Archaeological evidence indicates that in the Stone Age --North America and South America included--a least some  sufferers wee thought to be victims of evil spirits lodged in the head-- a condition that was dealt with through a crude surgical technique called trephining. Trephining involved chipping a hole, or trephine, into the skull of the possessed person to allow the evil spirit to escape. Certain skulls found in Peru show evidence of healing around the trephine, indicating that some of our ancestors actually survived the operation.


The technique of trephining involved chipping a hole in the skull through which the evil spirit, believed to be the source of the person's abnormal behaviour, might escape. As indicated by the skull below, some individuals actually survived the operation; this skull had healed considerably before the individual died.


The idea that abnormal behaviour could be caused by evil spirits invading the body seems To have endured for many centuries and--as indicated in the famous Hollywood Movie-The Exorcist-still exists in today's world. References to possession can also be found in the ancient records of the Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, and the Hebrews. The Bible itself mentions demonic possession in a number of places. In the New Testament, Jesus himself is reported reported to have "drawn" out devils from the possessed. If, one approaches the bible scientifically , from an investigative prospective, it soon becomes very clear that Jesus was not entirely the meek, Self-Suffering individual the Christian Church would have us believe--far from it.
The accepted cure for possession was to coax or force the evil spirits out of their victim. This practice, called exorcism, involved a wide variety of techniques, ranging from the mild to the brutal. Prayer--Jesus did not condone prayer other than for "The Lords Prayer", noise making, and the drinking of special potions appear to have sufficed in some cases. In other, more difficult cases, the possessed person might be submerged in water(as in Baptism)whipped, or starved in order to make the body a less comfortable habitation for the devil. Not surprisingly, some people did and do die from exorcistic treatments. 
It should not be imagined, however, that all ancient deviants were thought to be housing devils or, even if they were regarded as afflicted by evil forces, that they were subjected to elaborate exorcisms. In the absence of solid evidence, it is reasonable to assume that even among highly superstitous peoples, abnormal behaviour was often handled in an undramatic way. or example the person might simply be sent home to rest and given special mention in the community's prayers. Such action is common in small, traditional and remote communities today, and it was probably common in many andient societies as well. 

No comments:

Post a Comment