The belief that illness, death and misfortune of all sorts is frequently caused by the deliberate intervention of individuals with special powers or magical knowledge is pervasive throughout Melanesia. As a result, sorcery and witchcraft beliefs and practices exert a powerful influence on many aspects of day-to-day life, as well as being significant vectors for community tensions, conflict and violence. However, sorcery and witchcraft beliefs and practices also give rise to a range of social problems that are not as visible, including the retarding of economic development, poor public health, undermining of social cohesion, incentivising crime and creating insecurity.