DISCURSO E MANIPULAÇÃO: OS MECANISMOS PERSUASIVOS PRESENTES NOS DISCURSOS DE JIM JONES

Abstract

The main objective of this work was to find in Jim Jones’ manipulative discourses the elements that gave him, in 1978, the ability to induce a large number of his followers to commit what he called “a revolutionary suicide”. To reach its aim, the research initially concentrated its efforts on the discourse as a whole and, after that, it focused on the religious discourse, due to the fact that it works as a communicative bridge between the spiritual world and the human beings. Some other facts that also contributed to the tragedy were not ignored, such as, the role of the mind in the manipulation process, since it is believed that many of the attitudes taken by the members of a religious group are the results of brainwashing processes carried out by their leaders. Due to fact that the members of the sect were in the forests of Guiana, far away from the civilized world, the isolation of the group was also a factor that was taken into consideration, because, when the affectionate bonds that keep the persons tied to their families are substituted by the ones that keep them tied to the members of a religious group, they become more vulnerable to the attacks carried out by the people who want to manipulate them. The outcomes obtained from the research show that the discourse, if possessed by malicious people, can become a potentially harmful tool, causing irreversible social damages, what explains the importance of its study