Erikson's Theory of Religious Ritual: The Case of the Excommunication of Ann Hibbens

Abstract

Religious ritual is a woefully neglected area of research in the psychology of religion. The major theorists (Freud and James) considered ritual an inferior form of religious expression. However, theoretical grounds for a more positive view of religious ritual exist. Erik H. Erikson's theory sees ritual as a form of religious activity that is inherently adaptive. This study applies Erikson's theory of ritual to the excommunication proceedings carried out by First Church of Boston against Ann Hibbens in 1640. I argue that these proceedings were a judicial type ritual whose psychosocial dynamic was autonomy vs. shame and self-doubt. I judge the trial to be maladaptive because it was excessively legalistic. Erikson's theory not only provides a rationale for this negative assessment of the trial, but also it enables us to recommend an alternative form of ritual action that would have been adaptive. The study concludes with suggestions for relating Erikson's ritual elements and types of religious authority. Psychologists of religion have paid less attention to religious rituals than almost any other form or expression of religion (Capps, Ransohoff & Rambo, 1976). William James and his followers have never had much to do with religious ritual. James identified two basic forms of religion, the personal and the institutional, and suggested that personal religion involves people's direct and immediate transactions with the divine, while