Cult Med Psychiatry. 1990 Sep; 14(3): 313-37.

Zezuru turn of the screw. On children's exposure to evil.

Reynolds P.

Zezuru adults and children take into account concepts of evil in directing their lives, especially in managing incidents of trauma and sickness. Using the story The Turn of the Screw by Henry James to reflect on these notions, evil is traced in the expressions heard and treatment sessions witnessed during two years research with 60 traditional healers in Mashonaland, Zimbabwe. Evil, particularly as evidenced in witchcraft and possession by aggrieved spirits, is part of a discourse on human suffering--illness, misfortune, death--within a specific community. Healers' treatment of children and their conceptions of childhood form the base for a discussion of evil.