Jim Jones began as a charismatic faith healer, and was an ordained minister in Disciples of Christ denomination until his death. Peoples Temple itself was a member congregation.

15 Horrific Tactics Jim Jones Used To Keep His Followers On Lockdown
Jacob Shelton
Jim Jones was one of the most successful cult leaders of the 20th century. The charismatic founder of The Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ amassed a loyal following, one dedicated enough to start a new settlement in Guyana under his leadership. Here, he promised, followers of all races would live together in harmony. Nicknamed "Jonestown," the commune became site of one of the most notorious mass deaths in history. On November 18, 1978, a total of 918 people died at the location, either by poison or by gunfire.

How did Jim Jones keep his followers under his control, even as the true dark purpose of the "Jonestown Massacre" became clear? What cult tactics did he employ in order to get hundreds of people to follow his instructions? Over the course of his time as the head of the Peoples Temple, Jim Jones used multiple coercive tricks to control his parishioners, from psychological maneuvers to torture.

By the time Jim Jones had moved to Guyana to establish his commune, he had already burned through his influential connections. For Jones, the only end game seemed to be death. So how did he keep his followers from simply packing up and going home? Keep reading to learn all the horrifying details of how Jim Jones kept his followers on lockdown until the moment they died.

He Physically Isolated His Followers
How do you legally kidnap hundreds of people and essentially give them no choice but to do whatever you tell them to? Separate them from the world. In 1977, Jones moved scores of his followers to Guyana, South America, largely to escape the media scrutiny that was now surrounding the Peoples Temple. Those who went with him were cut off from their friends and family outside of the organization. Jones became their sole source of information.

He Created A False Warzone
According to Guyana escapee Teri Buford O'Shea, once the Peoples Temple moved down to South America, Jones made followers believe that the military was after them. He told them that American soldiers were waiting in the woods to kill anyone who ventured too far away from the compound.

O'Shea told The Atlantic, "We didn't know this at the time, but he'd set up people who would shoot into the jungle to make us feel as if we were under attack. And there were other people who were set up to run and get shot - with rubber bullets, though we didn't know it at the time. So there you were, in the middle of the jungle. Shots were being fired, and people were surrounding you with guns."

He Tortured Doubters With Drugs And Live Snakes
Deborah Layton Blakely was a Peoples Temple member who escaped Jonestown six months before the massacre. She filed an affidavit against Jones in order to get the U.S. government to investigate the Peoples Temple. According to Layton, one of the ways that members of the cult were controlled was by being sent to the "medical unit."

“Brave people who spoke out against the atrocities in Jonestown were taken to the 'medical unit' and put on coma inducing drugs," she said. "Others had a python wrapped around their neck. Children who cried about wanting to go back to the States were lowered into a dark well at night. One man was forced into 'the box' underground where he stayed for days/weeks."

He Subjected Followers To Public Humiliation
To break specific members of his group down, Jones would force them to undergo mass criticism in front of the rest of the congregation. Jones would make the followers strip naked in public, and encouraged other cult members to berate them at length.

Former Temple member Elmer Mertle said that this technique was called "catharsis" and that each "catharsis" would end with Jones telling the person who was being punished that what had just happened was a good thing. Mertle said, "The first forms of punishment [in the Temple] were mental, where they would get up and totally disgrace and humiliate the person in front of the whole congregation... Jim would then come over and put his arms around the person and say, 'I realize that you went through a lot, but it was for the cause. Father loves you and you’re a stronger person now. I can trust you more now that you’ve gone through and accepted this discipline.'"

He Staged Fake Mass Suicides
Prior to the mass death that would end the Peoples Temple, Jones staged suicide rehearsals that he referred to as "white nights." During these events, members had to drink red liquid that they were told contained poison to test their loyalty. Jonestown residents were also frequently kept in the main pavilion while Jones spent all night raging against the media, outside family members, and government powers who opposed them.

The true purpose of the white nights was chilling. By continually forcing people to enact a mass suicide, Jones was grooming them for the inevitable real event. By the time the actual massacre came about, Jonestown followers were subconsciously prepared to simply follow his instructions.

He Deprived Residents Of Sleep
Depriving someone of sleep is a quick and brutal way to destroy their will. According to Teri Buford O'Shea, one of the few escapees from Jonestown, sleep deprivation was one of the most effective methods of controlling Jones's followers.

O’Shea said, "One time Jim said to me... 'Let’s keep them poor and tired, because if they’re poor they can’t escape and if they’re tired they can’t make plans.'" Jonestown residents were forced to work six days a week, and were made to feel guilty if they slept for more than a few hours each night.

He Broke Families Apart
According to former Peoples Temple member Vernon Gosney, 'Part of [Jones's] philosophy was that family relationships are sick and need to be broken down." Not only would Jones separate children from their parents, but he would break up and rearrange marriages. He instilled a forced celibacy in the cult for everyone except himself and the people he slept with, claiming that all men were homosexual, all women were lesbians, and that he was the only heterosexual in the group.

By separating people in long-standing relationships, he discouraged them from exchanging information or questioning their harsh surroundings.

He Starved Jonestown Residents
A weakened group is easier to control. According to former Temple member Deborah Layton Blakely's affadavit, Jonestown residents weren't fed enough to keep their energy up: "There was rice for breakfast, rice water soup for lunch, and rice and beans for dinner. On Sunday, we each received an egg and a cookie. Two or three times a week we had vegetables. Some very weak and elderly members received one egg per day."

Jones, Blakely notes, did not rely on the same diet as his followers. Instead, "claiming problems with his blood sugar," he ate more nourishing meals that frequently included meat. A few select members of his inner circle were allowed to eat from his private stores as well, and appeared to be in much better health than their fellow residents.

He Trapped People In "The Box"
According to survivors of the Peoples Temple, one way that members were reprimanded was with "The Box." During this punishment, a person was stuffed into a coffin-shaped box and held underground while they were constantly berated and reprimanded for their perceived slights against the cult.

He Blackmailed Followers
Jones wasn't above resorting to old-fashioned blackmail to keep his followers under his control. He forced members to sign blank power-of-attorney forms, as well as false confessions that they had molested their children or conspired to overthrow the U.S. government while members of the Peoples Temple. Once, he reportedly even had a member of the Temple put her fingerprints on a gun and threatened to frame her for murder if she left the cult.

Jones's message was clear: leave the Temple, and your life is over.

He Generated Paranoia
After isolating his followers from the outside world by bringing them to Guyana, Jones continued to isolate Temple members by breaking them into smaller and smaller groups and convincing them to report anyone who spoke out against Jones and the Temple. This engendered a mistrust-laden climate where friends told on their friends, and children reported their parents for trying to escape Jones's grasp. Adding to the atmosphere of paranoia, Jones even convinced his followers that he had psychic abilities, and could read their thoughts at all times.

He Convinced People That He Was God
Jones was happy to act as his followers' surrogate father, brother, or God as long as they gave him their devotion in return. He laid this out in his sermons: "If you see me as your friend, I’ll be your friend. [If] you see me as your father, I’ll be your father. If you see me as your God, I’ll be your God."

He Gained More Followers To More Easily Control His Original Recruits
The perception of power can be as key as power itself. Jones seemingly understood that, and constantly brought new members into the Peoples Temple who hadn't yet questioned his control. The more members he was able to bring in, the more power he had, which made him more attractive to people outside of the cult - beginning the cycle again.

He Made Powerful Friends
Before moving his cult to South America, Jones became an influential figure in the city of San Francisco. In 1976, Willie Brown, speaker of the California State Assembly, compared Jones to Martin Luther King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein, and Chairman Mao. High-ranking members of Jimmy Carter's inner circle were known to meet with him, and Mayor George Moscone appointed Jones to San Francisco's housing commission.

The reason he had these friends? Jones likely got them elected. Former members of his church say he pressured his followers into voting for the candidates of his choice, and that people who didn't vote were "pushed around, roughed up, physically abused."

He Made Everyone Feel Like A Star
One of the simplest ways to control someone is to make them feel like they're your best friend. As Jones's adopted son Mike Cartwell said, "Jones could make everyone feel as if he or she was the guest of the day; he made each one feel special in some way. He gave you your five minutes, and in return, you gave him your life."

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Documentary

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