Assignment 4: Jamestown

Assignment 4: Jamestown

Introduction

Jim Jones created the Utopian world as he believed that his teachings can change the world (Dawson & Maaga, 2011). Jim Jones wanted to help the underprivileged people through his acts and wanted others to do the same. His core Christian believes had attracted several people, and he had many followers. Soon Jim Jones had realized that the government is against him, and he could be attacked by American forces. The People's Temple was formed for the purpose of helping people in need. With the passage of time, Jim Jones got changed as his teachings got strict. He started treating people in an ill-mannered way, and it was reported that the local people were beaten by him, and his followers to follow his teachings. In the given short video, we have seen that its followers were living in a separate and isolated village. A fact finding group including media and political leaders had visited the village. This group was headed by Congressman Ryan to investigate the abuse of human rights. In the attack of guards, Congressman Ryan, Bob Brown and three others had died.

Was Jim Jones deviant? If so, when did he become deviant?

Yes, Jim Jones was deviant as his thinking and perception was different from the rest of society. Sociologists define deviant as the violation of generally accepted norms of society (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2010). Some sociologists believe it is the necessary action in the society. Among them, the most famous was Emile Durkheim who said it is the necessary and common practice of social organization. Social deviance can be in the form of religious, morals, cultural values or political ideologies. Furthermore, he said that if there would not be deviance, we will not be able to distinguish between the good and evil. In short, social deviance plays following actions;

It helps in social change, which is in the larger interest of society. Through this people adjust in the changing atmosphere of society. It promotes social solidarity as people come to know what is right and what is wrong. Deviance provides a platform to the members of society where they can introduce any agenda. Sociologically, we can call Peoples' Temple as cult. A cult is the group of people who are deviant from the mainstream society and believe on novel things. Jim Jones had used manipulative, deceptive, threaten and other ways to fool people. He brainwashed the people and asked its followers to give up all allegiances with others and surrender their wishes in favor of cult leader. 2. Who defined the norms for the colony in Guyana?

Every society and colony has its own norms and values and these norms are followed by everyone in the colony. Guyana is also known as Jonestown, and Jim Jones was the only person responsible for developing the norms of the town.

Basically, his movement was against the ideology of Capitalism and norms of American society. He voiced against the segregation in society on the basis ...