This refers to an ancient practice wherein the guilt or innocence of people accused of crimes was decided by forcing them to undergo painful and dangerous ordeals. The accused was declared to be either innocent or guilty based on whether he or she survived the ordeal without dying or being severely hurt. It was believed that the innocent undergoing the ordeal would be saved by god. Some social scientists have argued that trial by ordeal actually served a useful purpose in a society where most people believed in god; that is, when the ordeals were simply staged to trick the guilty into abstaining from them, thus proving their guilt.