The Guyana Tragedy...

On November 18th 1978, 919 people were found dead in a remote community in the Guyana jungle. However, this was not entirely a case of a mass suicide "cult," for it is clear that many members of the group were murdered. Although the majority of people appear to have committed suicide by drinking a deadly concoction of cyanide, they childern would not have willingly drank it, and many people who died had been injected with syringes; suggesting the died against their wishes. Only about 85 people survived this massacre; some because they left or escaped before it was too late, and others because they were elsewhere in the jungle at the time.

Just before the mass deaths, a US Congressman visited the community, along with media reporters; however, these were all shot on the airstrip - this was evidently murder, and a form of group deviance. The People's Temple was a part of mainstream Christianity, as it belonged to a denomination called the Disciples of Christ.


The People's Temple preached a social gospel, and the community sought to acheive a perfect community, free of racial differences. They built the community together, and all worked as agricultural workers on their land, following their religious practices, in what they perceived as being the ideal. However, there are reports of abuse within the community, with Jones apparently locking people in boxes against their will, and sedating them with the vast amount of drugs he had acquired if they did not comply to his rules, or expressed views to wanting to leave. This suggests that members were kept against their will, and if they sought to escape, they were severely punished. Jones had major power and control over his community, it seems that after enticing them to Guyana, he almost claimed his followers as his possessions. Jones represents an extreme example of individual deviance, who influenced the deviance of others by conditioning their behaviour.


The group's charismatic leader was Jim Jones, and he was one of only two people to die of gunshot wounds on that fateful day; which raises the question - did he shoot himself, or was he murdered? To this day, they are still many conflicting theories, as to which no-one will ever find the answer to; it is something that can only be speculated upon.


"The question of how many people at Jonestown willingly took the poison always will be open to question. Certainly young children could not have evaluated very well what their actions would mean. The presence of armed guards shows at least implicit coercion, though the guards themselves reported their intentions to visitors in glorious terms and then took the poison. Nor was the situation structured as one of individual choice. Jim Jones proposed a collective action, and in the discussion that followed only one woman offered extended opposition. No one rushed up to tip over the vat of Fla-Vor-Aid. Wittingly, unknowingly, or reluctantly, they took the poison," (Hall, J. (2004). Gone from the Promised Land. New Brunswick : Transaction, p. xviii).

To obtain more information on Jonestown, I would suggest:

http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/

Barker, E. (1995). New Religious Movements. London: HSMO Publications Centre.

Bromley, D. (ed.), Melton, J. (ed.) (2002). Cults, Religion and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Claire Lloyd.
0622669.