Assignment 6: Jonestown HUS3201

Instructions: View the video “Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple.” Next, write a four page, double-spaced essay in which you analyze this video, using a minimum of five concepts you have learned from this class [the four pages excludes title page, references page, etc.]. Three relevant concepts include leadership, power, and influence. Be sure to use quotes and specific examples from the video to support your analysis. Use APA style for formatting and citations. All work must be grammatically correct. Check for sentence structure, flow, and clarity. You should begin the paper with a 200-300 word summary of the film—be sure to use your own words—do not cut and paste other film reviews.

This paper must:

• have a thesis statement (statement of purpose/intent), must indicate the topics to be covered
• use ONLY professional, objective language. Use objective, formal, not conversational tone/style
• use APA style
• use direct quotes sparingly – work on paraphrasing and appropriate citations for the paraphrased information

Before you submit your assignment to Blackboard, submit it to Turnitin.com using the link below. After you have reviewed your Originality Report and used it to reduce your Similarity Index appropriately (you can submit your assignment to Turnitin.com multiple times), submit BOTH your assignment and the Originality Report to Blackboard. 

Submission: To submit your files, choose the link titled Assignment 6: Jonestown above. Use the “Browse My Computer” button in the Attach File area to attach your document. Be sure to complete your submission by choosing the “Submit” button at the bottom of the screen.

Grading: This assignment is worth 45 points toward your final grade and is graded using the Assignment Rubric. Please use it as a guide toward successful completion of this assignment.

Introduction –Module 4

In this module, we explore three of the most significant concepts in the field of group dynamics—influence, power and leadership. Thousands of studies have addressed these three topics—in large part because of their role in the dark side of group dynamics. For example, the 20th and 21st centuries have witnessed many atrocities, including genocides and ethnic cleansings in Germany, Armenia, Rwanda, Iraq, Bosnia, and Darfur that took millions of lives. Most of these represented highly organized State sponsored efforts to exterminate specific ethnic groups and political dissidents by execution and forced labor. This means that large numbers of people carried out orders that were acts against humanity on a regular basis in hundreds of concentration and forced labor camps. While estimates vary, some place the death toll of the Holocaust near 10 million. Similarly, independent terrorist groups have displayed high levels of coordination, planning and organization. For example, the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the 2008 Mumbai attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel were highly orchestrated attacks. Such efforts require that followers accept influence, conform to group norms, and obey a leader’s orders, even when doing so means taking one’s own life and that of others. On a smaller scale, analyses of the mass suicides of members of religious groups like the People’s Temple in Guyana, where more than 900 followers of Jim Jones took their own lives reveals the significance of group dynamics involving leadership, influence and power.

It is common for people to focus on the personality traits of the leaders or the followers in such events—perhaps it makes us feel safer to conclude that the leaders were “charismatic” and were able to “charm” or “hypnotize” their “deluded,” or “insane” followers. However, many social psychological studies (see for example the famous Milgram obedience studies and the Zimbardo Stanford prison experiment) have shown that the context or structure of the situation plays an important role in these situations. In fact, both Milgram and Zimbardo concluded that the structure of a group, including its statuses and roles played a key part in outcomes in their studies.

In his book, The Lucifer Effect (2007, p viii), Philip Zimbardo stresses that focusing on the individual while ignoring the role of the situation and of the social system will not work. He says:

“Most institutions in any society that is invested in an individualistic orientation hold up the person as sinner, culpable, afflicted, insane, or irrational. Programs of change follow a medical model of dealing only at the individual level of rehabilitation, therapy, reeducation and medical treatments, or punishment and execution. All such programs are doomed to fail if the main causal agent is the situation or the system and not just the person. We need to adopt a public health model for prevention of evil, of violence, spouse abuse, bullying, prejudice, and more that identifies vectors of social disease to be inoculated against, not dealt with solely at the individual level.”

Zimbardo’s perspective is directly relevant to Human Services, for at least three reasons. First, much of the profession is dedicated to improving the delivery system (of health and mental health), and to prevention efforts, rather than focusing on individuals in isolation. For example, in its discussion of core competencies for Human Services workers, the National Organization for Human Services stresses the importance of “understanding the nature of human systems: individual, group, organization, community and society, and their major interactions. All workers will have preparation that helps them to understand human development, group dynamics, organizational structure, how communities are organized, how national policy is set, and how social systems interact in producing human problems.” Second, given the nature of their work, Human Services professionals are highly likely to encounter trauma survivors. For example, many lingering psychological problems result from combat, sexual assault or being the victim of another violent crime. It is crucial that the Human Services worker show compassion and caring and avoid blaming the victim. Awareness of group dynamics facilitates this skill. Third, recent research shows that counselors who care for those who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, are at risk of vicarious trauma—demonstrating the extent to which the experiences of the trauma survivor can influence even trained professionals.

It would be a mistake to conclude that influence, leadership and power are significant only in large-scale acts against humanity like war and terrorism; that influence, power and leadership are necessarily evil, or even that all members of a group follow orders that inflict harm on others. These three processes operate in ordinary social contexts, including day care centers, colleges and universities, emergency rooms, sports teams, jury deliberations, social media, peer groups, places of employment, and therapeutic settings. Many groups accomplish great things. In some instances, individuals resist the group’s pressure to conform, and are able to take the group in a new direction—a phenomenon known as “minority influence.” This may mean that one person can shift a jury, or that a small, united group can bring about a paradigm shift in a society. Have you ever been in a situation where you disagreed with a larger group? If so, what did you do? Did you feel the pressure to conform? Were you successful in shifting the group?

You will encounter these processes in many ways during your Human Services career—you may work in a team to develop new social policies to implement in your community, which will require that you be willing to accept influence, seek the opinions of others, and yet be able to lead others. You may testify before a court or a legislative body, or serve as an expert witness, which requires that you be able to influence others and understand the power that you have in such a context. You may lead or manage a Human Services agency or organization. This will require deep knowledge of influence, power, status, and other group dynamics. You may lead a group therapy session or a support group, or counsel clients individually. Your clients may suffer from the effects of addiction, sexual and or physical abuse, or post-traumatic stress syndrome. This requires that you understand that there are different kinds of power, and that the role of the therapist and counselor is powerful, influential and heavily regulated. It is important that you exercise ethical leadership.

To summarize, in this module, you will explore three of the most important concepts in the field of group dynamics. You will learn to define, explain, describe and analyze the many facets of influence, power and leadership. You will learn how groups influence individuals, and how individuals influence groups. You will learn about the ways that people gain power, and how one’s status can provide authority. You will learn about power, the different kinds of power and the consequences of its use. Finally, you will learn about leadership; how leaders emerge and what makes an effective leader.

References

Zimbardo, Phillip. 2007. The Lucifer Effect: understanding how good people turn evil. New York: Random House Publishing.

Assignment 6: Jonestown HUS3201

Instructions: View the video “Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple.” Next, write a four page, double-spaced essay in which you analyze this video, using a minimum of five concepts you have learned from this class [the four pages excludes title page, references page, etc.]. Three relevant concepts include leadership, power, and influence. Be sure to use quotes and specific examples from the video to support your analysis. Use APA style for formatting and citations. All work must be grammatically correct. Check for sentence structure, flow, and clarity. You should begin the paper with a 200-300 word summary of the film—be sure to use your own words—do not cut and paste other film reviews.

This paper must:

• have a thesis statement (statement of purpose/intent), must indicate the topics to be covered
• use ONLY professional, objective language. Use objective, formal, not conversational tone/style
• use APA style
• use direct quotes sparingly – work on paraphrasing and appropriate citations for the paraphrased information

Before you submit your assignment to Blackboard, submit it to Turnitin.com using the link below. After you have reviewed your Originality Report and used it to reduce your Similarity Index appropriately (you can submit your assignment to Turnitin.com multiple times), submit BOTH your assignment and the Originality Report to Blackboard. 

Submission: To submit your files, choose the link titled Assignment 6: Jonestown above. Use the “Browse My Computer” button in the Attach File area to attach your document. Be sure to complete your submission by choosing the “Submit” button at the bottom of the screen.

Grading: This assignment is worth 45 points toward your final grade and is graded using the Assignment Rubric. Please use it as a guide toward successful completion of this assignment.

Introduction –Module 4

In this module, we explore three of the most significant concepts in the field of group dynamics—influence, power and leadership. Thousands of studies have addressed these three topics—in large part because of their role in the dark side of group dynamics. For example, the 20th and 21st centuries have witnessed many atrocities, including genocides and ethnic cleansings in Germany, Armenia, Rwanda, Iraq, Bosnia, and Darfur that took millions of lives. Most of these represented highly organized State sponsored efforts to exterminate specific ethnic groups and political dissidents by execution and forced labor. This means that large numbers of people carried out orders that were acts against humanity on a regular basis in hundreds of concentration and forced labor camps. While estimates vary, some place the death toll of the Holocaust near 10 million. Similarly, independent terrorist groups have displayed high levels of coordination, planning and organization. For example, the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the 2008 Mumbai attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel were highly orchestrated attacks. Such efforts require that followers accept influence, conform to group norms, and obey a leader’s orders, even when doing so means taking one’s own life and that of others. On a smaller scale, analyses of the mass suicides of members of religious groups like the People’s Temple in Guyana, where more than 900 followers of Jim Jones took their own lives reveals the significance of group dynamics involving leadership, influence and power.

It is common for people to focus on the personality traits of the leaders or the followers in such events—perhaps it makes us feel safer to conclude that the leaders were “charismatic” and were able to “charm” or “hypnotize” their “deluded,” or “insane” followers. However, many social psychological studies (see for example the famous Milgram obedience studies and the Zimbardo Stanford prison experiment) have shown that the context or structure of the situation plays an important role in these situations. In fact, both Milgram and Zimbardo concluded that the structure of a group, including its statuses and roles played a key part in outcomes in their studies.

In his book, The Lucifer Effect (2007, p viii), Philip Zimbardo stresses that focusing on the individual while ignoring the role of the situation and of the social system will not work. He says:

“Most institutions in any society that is invested in an individualistic orientation hold up the person as sinner, culpable, afflicted, insane, or irrational. Programs of change follow a medical model of dealing only at the individual level of rehabilitation, therapy, reeducation and medical treatments, or punishment and execution. All such programs are doomed to fail if the main causal agent is the situation or the system and not just the person. We need to adopt a public health model for prevention of evil, of violence, spouse abuse, bullying, prejudice, and more that identifies vectors of social disease to be inoculated against, not dealt with solely at the individual level.”

Zimbardo’s perspective is directly relevant to Human Services, for at least three reasons. First, much of the profession is dedicated to improving the delivery system (of health and mental health), and to prevention efforts, rather than focusing on individuals in isolation. For example, in its discussion of core competencies for Human Services workers, the National Organization for Human Services stresses the importance of “understanding the nature of human systems: individual, group, organization, community and society, and their major interactions. All workers will have preparation that helps them to understand human development, group dynamics, organizational structure, how communities are organized, how national policy is set, and how social systems interact in producing human problems.” Second, given the nature of their work, Human Services professionals are highly likely to encounter trauma survivors. For example, many lingering psychological problems result from combat, sexual assault or being the victim of another violent crime. It is crucial that the Human Services worker show compassion and caring and avoid blaming the victim. Awareness of group dynamics facilitates this skill. Third, recent research shows that counselors who care for those who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, are at risk of vicarious trauma—demonstrating the extent to which the experiences of the trauma survivor can influence even trained professionals.

It would be a mistake to conclude that influence, leadership and power are significant only in large-scale acts against humanity like war and terrorism; that influence, power and leadership are necessarily evil, or even that all members of a group follow orders that inflict harm on others. These three processes operate in ordinary social contexts, including day care centers, colleges and universities, emergency rooms, sports teams, jury deliberations, social media, peer groups, places of employment, and therapeutic settings. Many groups accomplish great things. In some instances, individuals resist the group’s pressure to conform, and are able to take the group in a new direction—a phenomenon known as “minority influence.” This may mean that one person can shift a jury, or that a small, united group can bring about a paradigm shift in a society. Have you ever been in a situation where you disagreed with a larger group? If so, what did you do? Did you feel the pressure to conform? Were you successful in shifting the group?

You will encounter these processes in many ways during your Human Services career—you may work in a team to develop new social policies to implement in your community, which will require that you be willing to accept influence, seek the opinions of others, and yet be able to lead others. You may testify before a court or a legislative body, or serve as an expert witness, which requires that you be able to influence others and understand the power that you have in such a context. You may lead or manage a Human Services agency or organization. This will require deep knowledge of influence, power, status, and other group dynamics. You may lead a group therapy session or a support group, or counsel clients individually. Your clients may suffer from the effects of addiction, sexual and or physical abuse, or post-traumatic stress syndrome. This requires that you understand that there are different kinds of power, and that the role of the therapist and counselor is powerful, influential and heavily regulated. It is important that you exercise ethical leadership.

To summarize, in this module, you will explore three of the most important concepts in the field of group dynamics. You will learn to define, explain, describe and analyze the many facets of influence, power and leadership. You will learn how groups influence individuals, and how individuals influence groups. You will learn about the ways that people gain power, and how one’s status can provide authority. You will learn about power, the different kinds of power and the consequences of its use. Finally, you will learn about leadership; how leaders emerge and what makes an effective leader.

References

Zimbardo, Phillip. 2007. The Lucifer Effect: understanding how good people turn evil. New York: Random House Publishing.