The Salem witch trials contain all the sociological elements and basic insights necessary to develop and establish a moral panic, excluding the mass media (Reed, 2015, para. 10). It begins by addressing the fact that what happened was a disproportionate response, leaving out the obvious part about magic and spell casting not existing (Reed, 2015, para. 11). The panic was caused by America's recent development and the less than favorable results it had produced. As a result, it appeared that women were the primary target of this attack, especially those who inherited property and challenged Salem's patriarchal structure (Reed, 2015, para. 33). This was easily achieved because men were worried about harm being brought to them and women were worried about possession. This allowed people not to focus on the obvious problem that was directly in front of them, the ruthless murder of innocent people on the off chance that they were witches. As time passed, none of the accusations were taken seriously, as it was enough to take into consideration the credibility of those who were possessed (Reed, 2015, para. 33). The most important role in the development of the panic was the desperate attempt of the priests to bring the church back to Salem, and that is exactly what they did.