What does The Crucible tell us about the way people react to conflict?

One interesting parallel between Salem Village in 1692 and the climate in the United States during the 1950s and McCarthyism is that suspicion was bred by fear and ignorance of the unknown. The new Puritan settlers faced extreme hardship in the New World; the cold winters, failure of crops and general relative poverty led to much animosity among community members. Likewise, there was a great deal of anxiety about finances and business after the second world war, when the US was trying to rebuild. In these climates of anxiety about the future, the tendency towards scapegoating was increased. In Salem, the scapegoats were 'witches' who were thought to be in league with the devil, and responsible for everything from crop failure, illness, and bad weather to sick animals and impotence; whereas Senator Mccarthy and his cronies believed the 'evil' cause of social unrest lay in the rise and spread of Communism. In both cases, wildly-exaggerated stories and rumors led to an increasing amount of suspicion and fear, which caused many people to suspect their own friends, co-workers and relatives of being either witches or Communists. The resulting conflict was only resolved after the worst had already happened: the execution and imprisonment of innocent people in Salem, and the blacklisting of hundreds of people in government, journalism and entertainment. During the Salem trials, as well as the McCarthy hearings, people who spoke out against the proceedings only became more prominent targets. No one came to their defense. This demonstrates that in the face of personal risk, and under the scrutiny of powerful authority figures, people will tend to act in a self-centered manner.