What is an example of assimilation in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible?

As most people familiar with the play are aware, Arthur Miller wrote this play as an allegorical commentary on the McCarthy hearings and the so-called "Red Scare" sweeping through the United States in the 1950s. Many people in the entertainment and media industries were suspected of being Communists, even if they had only attended a meeting or were acquainted with someone who was one. The hearings before Congress were seen as a "witch hunt" because of their similarity to what happened at Salem Village, i.e. baseless accusations and assumptions being equated with guilt, hence Miller's setting for the play.

Communism in and of itself was not dangerous but Senator McCarthy was one of a number of government officials who believed Communists or Communist-sympathizers might become spies and "aid and abet" the enemy. Assimilation means absorbing or adapting to ideas or behaviors, usually in a cultural context. In the context of Communism, "assimilation" means to absorb and practice the principles and ideologies of the party, to try and transform the state into a Communist society. 

It would seem that the concept of assimilation in terms of The Crucible would, therefore, refer somehow to those being accused of witchcraft. But in an interesting ironic twist, assimilation in the play has to do with the accusers. Those who did not want to cooperate with the court's investigation, or who denied the legitimacy of the proceedings (including people like Giles Corey and John Proctor), were in danger of being accused themselves, because the larger socio-political context of the accusations was one of ideology and control, and not necessarily a belief in actual witchcraft. Thus, the assimilation that took place was one of convincing people that there was in fact an epidemic of witchcraft in Salem Village.

The route this took was largely based in what has now been called the "mass hysteria" experienced by the young girls who were the main accusers. It is clear that the young women enjoyed being the center of attention (as when Mary Warren says she is not able to complete her serving duties because she is now "an official of the court"), and thereby have an interest in prolonging the situation. Even when Mary understands things have gone too far, and wants to tell the truth, Abigail manipulates her in open court and convinces her to play-act along with the rest of the girls; this can be seen as a form of assimilation, or an effort to absorb the ideas or behaviors of a group, motivated by the belief that anyone not willing to "follow the party line" will be ostracized.