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Jim Jones And The Criminal Mind

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Jim Jones And The Criminal Mind
There are many different people in the world culturally, ethnically, and even mentally. Some of these mentally unstable people have a criminal mindset. Without a clear reason to justify their actions, criminals claim to act for the better good of the community. For one, Jim Jones was a cult leader with a vision to build a uniformed communist society through socialist practices. Based in Guyana, Jones built “Jonestown” to provide a perfect, stable community for his 909 American followers. Jonestown soon turned into a horrific memorial of a planned mass suicide by Jones, in which all his followers died by cyanide poison through Flavor Aid. Through the study of the strain theory, self-control theory, and rational choice theory, Jim Jones and his idea of this suicide can be understood.
To begin, Jim Jones idea of mass suicide can be understand through the reflection and analysis of the strain theory. The strain theory is a pattern of rational thought to act in crime or violence as the only solution for escape (Jrank). For Jones, his escape plot of mass suicide arose when the Guyanian government started to question the practices of his society. The government was doing background checks of Jones based on tips of members who were questioning his leadership (Bio). Paranoid, Jones only idea of escape was through ass suicide that was well thought through. To elaborate, Jones felt as if he had lost control and was surrounded by overwhelming paranoia that resulted in his mass suicide campaign, which clearly shows the strain theory.

http://www.lycoming.edu/schemata/pdfs/soc_criminology_schemata_fall09.pdf http://law.jrank.org/pages/814/Crime-Causation-Sociological-Theories-Strain-theory.html criminology.pbworks.com/f/Hirschi++Testing+a+General+Theory+of+Crime.pd http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607#the-peoples-templef

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