Jonestown, The Life and Death of People’s Temple

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=traRRAQQfbg
 
 
The assigned term project is a case study to be analysed in your group. The case is a
documentary about: ‘Jonestown: The life and death of people’s temple’, which is a movie about
the events leading up to the largest mass suicide in American history, and the role of the cult’s
leader, Jim Jones, played in these events. Please address, in essay form, the following questions
in two parts:
 
1: Jonestown: Mass Suicide or Mass Murder?
1a How did Jim Jones grow into the charismatic leader his followers believed him to
be?
1bWhat sources and types of power and which leadership techniques did he
Deploy, and how did he deploy them?
1c How can you explain his followers’ behaviours, firstly to join the organisation,
Secondly, to engage in activities including the bullying and disciplining of fellow
members they knew was wrong, and ultimately commit suicide?
 
2: Any Relevance to Everyday (business) Organizations?
2a Do you see any relevance of the tools of leadership and power used in this extreme
example to every day (enterprise) organisations?
2bWhat are some of the most significant similarities and differences?
2c How can we prevent narcissistic leaders from (psychologically and physically) harming their
followers?
 
 
Assignment details:
Body text Page setup
·  Font: Times New Roman
·  Font size: 12 points
·  Line spacing: Single
·  2,000 words, excluding references
·  Submission date April 30

(Header)
In American history there are plenty of leaders who gathered people around themselves
and led them into some conflicts and undesirable results. In the 1970s there was a leader who
seemed to be sarcastic and narcissist. His name was Jim Jones and he was a member of a
dysfunctional family. His decisions lead his people to a bad ending due to his background and
ideas which will be analyzed in detail. He was one of the charismatic leaders in American
history. In addition, due to his past he also adopted few religious and authoritarian ideas. He
imposed his ideas on behalf of his community and forced them to follow what he believed. His
actions and the ideas need to be analyzed to understand whether there is a relationship between
charismatic leaders in 70s America and today’s organizations. We will analyze the documentary
about him which is named “Jonestown, The Life and Death of People’s Temple(2006)”
(McKeown, 2017). We will go into detail(değiştirilebilir yani daha güzel bir kalıp kullanılabilir
burada…) in two parts: Is this mass suicide or Mass Murder according to Jim Jones actions?, and
Is there relevance to everyday business organizations?. 

In order to understand Jim Jones and his act of suspicious activities we have to analyze
his family and how his ideas were formed when he was young. He was a member of a
dysfunctional family and he had been spending most of his time with his family which forced
him to adopt some immoral and strange ideas. These ideas were not widely accepted by
American culture. In addition, while he was a child, he was infamous and people did not respect
him that much. He was full of desire to reach power and respect from his surroundings. He was
religious and was a member of church in his teenage years. He had been adopting religious ideas
especially the ones which are directly related to Jesus and the Bible. In the documentary the
editors and the victims of the community defend the idea that these religious ideas help Jones to
manipulate people in the USA. He also loved to use hand figures and emotional body moves
while he was speaking in front of the people. During the 1920s and post WW2 era these kinds of
speeches were very famous and his speeches were very similar to previous authoritarian leaders
in terms of his moves, words and promises in his speeches. On the other hand, he created a
community which is ruled by white people but most of the members are black so that it seemed
to be a “Black Church”. This “Black Church” definition is also given in the documentary
(McKeown, 2017) as well which also supports the idea of creating a community that has no race
inequality. His one of the most strange ideas is creating a community that has no racism and
helps people to feel that there are not any race inequalities in the community. He created the best
fake institutions for his people and convinced people to join his community. If an individual
wants to join the community, he or she has to give money in exchange for the care that he or she
will take from the community. After joining the community he tried to make people feel that
they are in the socialist movement and everyone must be equal in terms of wealth and care.  At
last, he offered people to feel relaxed and try to be praised by the god or some religious
institutions  to reach the holy end which was carried by some iconic seniors. Those seniors were
like they were holy and were praised by the god so that he gained a strong position by religion
and gathered respect from these iconic seniors. These religious ideas, short-term solutions and
socialist ideas helped Jones to gather people around him and made people feel that they are under
the control of a perfect charismatic leader.

The cult leader Jim Jones was talking about equality, a socialist society where everything
belonged to everyone, where there were no rich or poor people and a society where there was no
race. In the 60s and 70s, there was violence on the streets of the US. Even the political or civil
leaders were subjected to violence. For instance, the presidents John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X,
and Martin Luther King, they were all assassinated. A follower said that at that time the
government was not taking care of its people. It seemed there was no hope. It was also a period
that colored people were treated unrightfully. Colored people suffering from discrimination,
from poverty listened to Jim Jones. A follower stated that Jim Jones was talking “black” and he
understood what it felt like being treated differently. Jones was giving hope in his speeches.
People who thought that they had a purpose, and thought that they were very special, people who
wanted the violence, the inequality between races to be gone for instance, they too listened to
this charismatic yet deranged Jim Jones. They thought they were being part of something
meaningful, powerful and bigger than themselves. He took advantage of people’s vulnerabilities
or hopes, and he offered them what they wanted to hear. He offered them an equal society, a
happy community. Jim Jones even said he would be their friend or father or savior or God if they
wanted him as such. He took people’s houses and money, but he offered the services they needed
in return. Therefore, elderly people were taken care of in the community instead of nursing
homes. He even healed the sick. For all these reasons people joined his cult and became his
followers. (1C’nin birinci bölümünün yanıtı)

2a Do you see any relevance of the tools of leadership and power used in this extreme
example to every day (enterprise) organisations?
2bWhat are some of the most significant similarities and differences?

2a

References
1-McKeown, W. (Ed.). (2017, November 14). Jonestown: The life and death of People's Temple
- YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=traRRAQQfbg