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Jim Jones would often publicly humiliate his followers by revealing their darkest secrets/fears in front of the entire group. The bystander effect is present here due to the group's inaction, even though the same could easily have happened to any one of them.

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Jim Jones and Warren Jeffs both employed very similar strategies to control the minds of their disciples.
-Both of them used intercoms to communicate with their followers at all times, and give them a sense that they were always being watched.
-Both cults often stressed that the end was coming, and that the members had to prepare for it. Jones did this by forcing his followers to carry out suicide drills, for when the outside world would inevitably come for them. Jeffs would have FLDS members line up outside, saying that judgement day had come, and that they would get beamed up to heaven. These served as tests of loyalty for the cult members.
-Notably, Jeffs and Jones both used children as a way of forcing their followers into submission, and preventing them from leaving. Due to the nature of the FLDS, most members had many children that they would have been forced to leave behind if they defected. Many FLDS members who did leave are still searching for their missing children. Jim Jones actually forced his attorney, Tim Stoen, to sign the parental rights of his son over to Jones in order to prevent Stoen from ever defecting.

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https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/jonestown

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Jim Jones presented himself as a larger-than-life figure, who was connected to the divine in ways his followers could never be. He even instructed his followers to refer to him as "father," or "dad," beginning in the mid-1950s, which added to his divine status in his disciples' eyes. Many social psychologists believe that Jim Jones actually studied obedience to authority, mastering mind control techniques before applying them to his disciples. Jones frequently warned his followers that "Big Brother" was watching them, which eventually justified their move to Guyana. This technique would have been particularly effective, because his followers (who were majority black) already had a healthy level of mistrust towards the government. Jones would also instruct his followers to tell him their darkest secrets/fears, and then, upon disobedience, out them or subject them to said fears in front of the group. Jones also carried out many suicide drills with his followers before actually giving them laced kool-aid, leading them to believe that the drills were just a test to show their loyalty.

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Most of the members of the Peoples' Temple were poor African Americans from the inner cities. Additionally, nearly half of the Temple's members were black women, considered one of the most religious demographics in the country. American society was becoming increasingly secular in the mid-late 20th century, and Jim Jones provided an outlet for many urban blacks who felt stripped of their religious identity to reclaim it. Jones gave these individuals a place to bond over his religion, which, along with the similar backgrounds of the members, led to extremely high cohesiveness in the group.

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Although the group was presented as a communist group, there were clear leaders and henchmen of Jones, who would follow his every command. Jones ruled in a dictatorship though, so he was the only member with real power, and he strictly kept watch over his subjects. Johnny Jones was one of Jim Jones adopted children, and played a large role in Jonestown, particularly in helping negotiations between press and The Peoples Temple.
Dr. Lawrence Schacht was the doctor in Jonestown, and prepared and helped administer the final deadly drink.
Average members were expected to work the fields, hard work and long hours, and also routinely participated in "White Nights"; suicide drills in the middle of the night.

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Factors that promote groupthink.
- Isolation of the group
The cult is extremely isolated in Jonestown, 24 miles from the nearest town, by dirt road. This makes it hard to get to the compound or leave it.
- High group cohesiveness
The group is very cohesive, and must be, because of the remote setting and harsh rule.
- Directive leadership
Jones ruled with an iron fist, and suicide drills were a common way of keeping people emotionally ungrounded and on edge.
- Homogeneity of members backgrounds
Many members of the cult were from poor backgrounds, and made up the majority of the cult. These people were inspired by the message of food and shelter for everyone, and of racial justice, since the majority of the cult was Black.
- High stress from external forces
Jones constantly emphasized that the government was out to get them, and that the only power they had was the power of mass suicide, which he call revolutionary suicide.

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Factors of conformity
- Group of 3 or more.
The size of the Peoples Temple is a major cause of conformity in the group. While numbers swelled, the power Jones held over his followers grew too. Once the cult was in Guyana, those who spoke out or didn't do their duties were singled out, and the mere size of the group held many to complicity.
- Impressed by status
Many who joined the group were impressed by the social justice message of the Peoples Temple, and wanted to make an impact on the issues of race and class. This idea of the group, and respect for its ideals led many to just conform, even when Jones began to lie, and abuse congregants, psychologically and physically.
- Being observed
Armed guards patrolled Jonestown, and Jones kept a watchful eye over congregants. These factors combined, along with the silence of fellow group members, led any who had once dared to speak out to reconsider doing so in Jonestown.

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The people's temple was founded on the principle of Apostolic Socialism, which dictated that the members of the community had to share their finances with the community. After the Peoples' Temple relocated to Guyana, Jones abused this norm as a means of seizing all personal finances of his disciples, even welfare checks. As Jones became more paranoid and radical, members of the Peoples' Temple were increasingly forced to abide by Jones' rules (which included large amounts of unpaid hard labor and suicide drills) or leave. Jones used this as a method of weeding out any dissidents, and making the few members of the cult who remained increasingly loyal to him.

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The Peoples Temple's moment of fame came at the very end of the cult's journey, when Jones' henchmen murdered a US congressman, Leo Ryan, and four others, after a visit to Jonestown. After the botched visit and brutal murders, Jones ordered the cult members to commit suicide. On November eighteenth, 1978, nine-hundred and eight members of Jonestown commited mass suicide. The cult members drank cyanide laced fruit punch, leaving bodies scattered around the compound.

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The mission of the People's Temple was a fully racially integrated religious community, where all members had housing and food. A compound, which would exist as a socialist utopia, was the final goal.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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https://www.britannica.com/topic/Peoples-Temple

https://www.cdamm.org/articles/peoples-temple

https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/22/archives/cult-doctor-tied-to-poisonings-had-been-dedicated-to-the-poor-his.html

https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/jonestown

https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=29478

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Table of Contents

Peoples Temple, religious community led by Jim Jones (1931-78) that came to international attention after some 900 of its members died at their compound, Jonestown, in Guyana, in a massive act of murder-suicide on Nov. 18, 1978.

Jones began the Peoples Temple informally in the 1950s as an independent congregation in Indianapolis. He was inspired by the ideal of a just society that could overcome the evils of racism and poverty. Although Jones was white, he attracted mostly African Americans to the group with his vision of an integrated congregation. In 1960 the Peoples Temple affiliated with the Christian Church ( Disciples of Christ), and four years later Jones was ordained. In 1965 he warned of a nuclear holocaust and led the movement to Ukiah, Calif., where members became active in both Protestant ecumenical circles and state politics. Branch congregations opened in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and the agricultural settlement Jonestown was founded in 1974.

Jones's "apostolic socialism" was influenced by the Marxist " liberation theology" popular among Latin American clergy at the time. He mixed social concerns with faith healing and an enthusiastic worship style drawn from the black church. He also invited members to live communally in an effort to realize his utopian ideal. Meanwhile, the church was accused in the press of financial fraud, physical mistreatment of members, and abuse of children in its care. In 1977 Jones led hundreds of the group's members to Guyana.

A year later, Concerned Relatives, a group of former members, persuaded Leo J. Ryan, a U.S. congressman from California, to visit Jonestown. The visit apparently went well. However, for reasons still not completely understood, Ryan and those accompanying him were murdered when they reached the airport to return to the United States. Shortly thereafter, most of the residents joined together in a mass rite of murder-suicide in which they were either shot or took poison. The members of the group who had remained in California later formally disbanded.

Following the tragedy at Jonestown, the Peoples Temple was identified as a "cult," and Jones was depicted by the media as the epitome of an evil cult leader. Although numerous scholarly and popular studies of Jonestown have been written, the effort to understand the group and the tragedy continues. Congress has yet to release the files from its investigation of Ryan's death.

J. Gordon Melton

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Peoples Temple, religious community led by Jim Jones (1931-78) that came to international attention after some 900 of its members died at their compound, Jonestown, in Guyana, in a massive act of murder-suicide on Nov. 18, 1978. Jones began the Peoples Temple informally in the 1950s as an independent congregation in Indianapolis.

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Jones originally started the cult in Indiana, in a small town, but under increasing scrutiny from local authorities and a growing following, he moved the cult to California, outside of the town of Ukiah. There were about 100 followers around this time. The cult continued to grow in size, leading, among other factors, to the move to Guyana.

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The People's Temple was a cult that was founded and led by Jim Jones, and lasted from the 1950s to 1978. The cult had a focus of racial and social justice, and held socialist, and even communist viewpoints. Although the cult started as a christian church, Jones moved away from these teachings, and began preaching 'Apostolic Socialism'. In 1974, the People's Temple moved from California to a agricultural community in Guyana, called Jonestown.