©1998 The Institute of Mind and Behavior, Inc
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1998, Volume 19, Number 4, Pages 431-446
ISSN 0271-0137
The Malleus Maleficarum (James Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer, 1486/1971) was a detailed manual for Dominican witch-hunters. It codified specific criteria for identifying witches and guidelines for their application. It elaborated a system of symptoms that indicated illness caused by witchcraft (Szasz, Thomas, The manufacturers of Madness: A comparative study of the inquisition and the mental health movement, Dell Publishing Co., New York, NY, 1970, pp. 7-8). These symptoms were seen as the visible projections of a vast and complex organization of behavior. Since the existence of witches was presupposed by those who used the manual, its criteria were confirmed repeatedly during the inquisition. Once the Malleus was published, its diagnostic system acquired a momentum of its own and generated its own evidence (cf. Trevor-Roper, 1969, pp. 41-42 and Szasz, 1970, pp. 23, 36). Its authors saw physicians as experts at distinguishing physical illnesses from those caused by witchcraft. The authors began the manual by asserting that belief in the existence of witches is an essential part of the Catholic faith. Priests and inquisitors were not to doubt the existence of witches (Szasz, 1970, pp. 8-9, 115), Like the Malleus Malleficarum, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) is a detailed text which codifies specific criteria for identifying people who are seen as abnormal. It codifies guidelines for applying these criteria and elaborates a system of symptoms that indicates illnesses known as mental disorders. These symptoms are seen as the visible projections of a vast and complex organization of behavior. Since the existence of these disorders is presupposed by many of those who use the manual, its criteria are confirmed repeatedly in the diagnostic process. Once DSM was published (1952), its diagnostic system acquired a momentum of its own and has generated its own evidence. Its authors regard psychiatrists as experts at applying the manual's criteria. They are also seen as experts at distinguishing mental disorders from other illnesses. Belief in the existence of mental disorders is an essential part of the psychiatric faith.
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The author thanks the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for the generous doctoral fellowship which enabled him to complete this review. Requests for reprints should be sent to Duff Waring, LL.B., 195 St. Patrick Street, Suite 301B, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4T 2Y8.
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