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Peoples Temple Settlement In Guyana - Papers

Peoples Temple Settlement In Guyana



Close to one thousand people died at Jonestown. The members of the , under the direction of the Reverend Jim Jones, fed a poison-laced drink to their children, administered the potion to their infants, and drank it themselves. Their bodies were found lying together, arm in arm; more than 900 perished. How could such a tragedy occur? How and why did the People's Temple emerge? Perhaps one of the greatest sociologists in history could help explain the rise and fall of this cultural landmark. Perhaps Emile Durkheim could shed light on why this group of all different sides of life came and went. We can attempt to use the central concepts of Durkheim's theory on suicide and society to try to ...

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Durkheim states that emergence occurs from the interrelationship of elements of a simpler or less complex reality and the outcome is a phenomenon at the level of a more complex reality that creates new characteristics (Ashley 117). Jim Jones took very simple elements of religion and missionary enthusiasm and with their combination created a very complex commune, a society made up of all walks of life, a community of various followers to help him spread his socialist and Marxist ideas.
Jonestown's structure can be explained using Durkheim's ideas of mechanical and organic solidarity. According to Durkheim, a mechanically organized society is one in which social integration is based on a high level of shared beliefs, values, customs, and ritual interactions. All persons in this type of society are very consistent in their perceptions of reality, their social behavior, and their responses to the behaviors of others. These people thus have little sense of distinction and share a unity ...

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People's Temple could also be considered as being a mechanically organized society. Jim Jones was a very charismatic leader, because of this all of his followers believed in his ideas and values.
As the group became larger it was clear that the followers were adapting to Jim Jones' belief and value system. The main reason for this however is most likely due to the threats and humiliation that Jones' placed on his followers when certain members disobeyed or were negative about his beliefs. In the end we could say that the People's Temple was very much a mechanically organized group in the aspect of beliefs and values but when dealing with the individuals it was clear that there was ...

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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 9/21/2005 11:35:54 AM
Category: Miscellaneous
Type: Free Paper
Words: 1519
Pages: 6

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