Jonestown Massacre

Despite the promise of utopia, Jonestown was clearly no utopia. The organizational structure of the Temple was in fact a hierarchical with four distinct levels. Jones was at the top, followed by an inner circle known as “angels”. These angels dealt with the media and were responsible for Temple finances. They also served as the muscle. Underneath the inner circle was the planning commission, responsible for managing the Temple and enforcing some of the more simple rules. At the bottom was the general membership. (Asher) The white male population had certain privileges not afforded to others. They had access to money, ate better, worked less and served as the armed guards used to intimidate and control the others. Many of the “privileged” were

not among the dead found in the carnage of Jonestown. According to the survivors, Jonestown was a slave labor camp.

The people were forced to work 16-18 hours per day, required to live in cramped living quarters separated from their families, and were poorly fed. They were physically and mentally exhausted through malnutrition and all night lectures called “White Night” where Jones would preach for hours to exhausted followers in preparation for mass suicide. In Jonestown, Paradise Lost, January 15, 2007 Directed by Tim Wolochatiuk, Jones called for White Nights consistently in the week preceding the massacre. The people were woken during the night and forced to stand for hours while an obvious drug intoxicated Jones preached at them, preparing them for mass suicide. There were allegations of beatings, forced drugs, sensory isolation, and medical and physical experimentation. The result, sophisticated brain washing. The brain washing was so complete, that Vernon Gosney left his young son behind believing that as a bi-racial child he would be more at risk in the United States than staying in Jonestown. (Paradise

Lost)
Despite the oppressive life that was the reality in Jonestown, and despite their misery, the members had nowhere to go. It was no accident that Jonestown was isolated in the jungles of Guyana with no communication with the outside world. The members were both emotionally and physically isolated from their families. Even communication and conversation between Temple members was discouraged. (Osherow). After the arrival in Jonestown, Jones’ indoctrination focused on the positive aspect of death. He preached that death was not to be feared and often subjected his followers to loyalty tests wherein mass suicides were practiced.
Reiterman writes that Jones had so manipulated the people with guilt for any elitist beliefs and anyone who believed that things were not all right in Jonestown was compared to an anarchist. (Reiterman 429). Jones successfully conditioned his followers to believe in the perfection of Jonestown and ignore any of the bad associated with the Temple. Reiterman states, “They had given up so much to come to Jonestown that to even contemplate trouble in paradise would be incapacitating. It was far easier to blame themselves for failing to be content amid impossible surroundings.” (Reiterman 429-430).
In the aftermath of Jonestown, countless sociologists, psychologists, and family members searched for answers and sought to understand the “Why” of Jonestown. According to Neal Osherow, by the early 1970’s most Temple members feared Jones but were so controlled by Jones and the enforced isolation, they remained in the church despite allegations of brutal beatings, public punishment, and humiliation. One survivor, Blakey stated, “Although I felt terrible about what was happening, I was afraid to say anything because I knew that anyone with a differing opinion gained the wrath of Jones and other members.” (Osherow)
One of the most damaging and demoralizing aspects of Jones’ control was the break down of the family unit. Jones required each member to dedicate himself or herself to him as the Father and separated children from parents during services, eventually leading to separate living quarters in Jonestown. Parents were coerced into giving Jones and the Temple the custodial rights to their children preaching, “Families are part of the enemy system because they hurt one’s total dedication to the Cause.” Thus a dissenter could no longer depend upon his or her own family for support. (Osherow). Jones further destroyed the relationships between spouses by encouraging and requiring extramarital sexual relations, often humiliating the participants. (Osherow).
The question is asked why, particularly before the move to the remote regions of Guyana, did members stay with Jones and not defect from the Temple. Before the migration to Guyana, a group of eight young adults left the Temple and went into hiding for their safety. Jones went to extreme lengths to locate them however, failing to locate them and force their return to the Temple, Jones proceeded to denigrate them and set them up as an example saying, “I promised that if you kept my teachings and followed me, you wouldn’t go to concentration camps.” (Reiterman 226). The eight defectors corresponded with Jones to bargain for the safety of their family members who remained in the Temple. Jones continued to manipulate them from a distance and is quoted as saying, “You understand that the “dictatorship of the proletariat” means I have to go to these extremes. The end justifies the means.” (Reiterman 229. Armed guards surrounded the compound, and the conditions have been likened to the concentration camps of World War II. (Osherow)
Once isolated in Jonestown, despite their trepidations and fears, the majority of the members maintained their faith in the leadership.

From a sociological perspective there was no other way to believe and resistance was not possible. From a sociological perspective, in order to survive the person downplays and rationalizes the situation. (Osherow). As Jones began to increase the oppression of his regime, the member’s motivation to justify their commitment to the group also increased. This process is referred to as self-justification and the theory of cognitive dissonance. (Osherow). Osherow defines cognitive dissonance theory as a method whereby people seek to justify choices and commitments. This was the condition of the Temple members as Congressman Ryan began his investigation and his planned visit to Jonestown.

In 1977, many concerned family members approached the media and local politicians voicing their concerns that their family members were being held against their will in Jonestown through systematic brainwashing. Arguably, the most deviant preaching of Jones was the idea of revolutionary suicide. Jones would often share his belief that you were “better off dead and protest the unjust conditions of the world than to get destroyed by the hands of their enemies by murder and incarceration.”

(Maynard).
In 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan responded to the request from concerned relatives in his political district. He organized what was to be a fact-finding mission that included members of the press and some family members. Initially they saw a settlement of people who appeared happy and content with their lives at Jonestown. However, several members secretively passed messages to Ryan asking to leave with his group. (Osherow) As seen in the documentary, Jones bids a fond farewell to the defectors, all the while knowing of the attack that would befall then at the airfield.
Immediately following the murder of Ryan and his group, Jones called for the final White Night. He convinced an already brainwashed population that they would all be blamed for the murder and that the retaliation by the United States and the Guyanese police would be directed first against the children who would be tortured and killed. As he continued to preach his final message, his trusted aids began to mix the poison cocktail. (Paradise). He challenged anyone to voice a dissenting opinion and one brave woman spoke out, specifically asking that the nearly 300 children be spared. She was dragged away by armed guards and injected with the poison cocktail.