It's easy to blame the Salem Witchcraft incidents on conspiracy. A group of adolescent girls were secretly indulging in behavior that flew in the face of the dominant ideology of the day. They were victims of extreme anxiety due to the restrictive society they inhabited, and the consequences they might have had to endure if discovered. I believe that the beginning of the episode occurred because a number of the girls were truly unbalanced by this anxiety. I don't doubt however, that the adults in control of these girls managed to influence them to accuse their enemies, whether intentionally or unintentionally. In the case of both Salem, Massachusetts and Littleton, Colorado adolescents felt themselves to be isolated from the cultural milieu. In both cases they "avenged" themselves. In both instances, these teens leveraged the power that was available to them. In Littleton the boys exploited the violence, hatred and racism which, sadly, is still prevalent in our culture, and used bombs and guns as their weapons. In Salem the forces were prejudice and fear, and the weapons were the accusations made. Salem and Littleton - both are sad commentaries on the society of the day. Kathy Smith