This event can be greatly explained through a functionalist sociological perspective. Functionalist perspective “seeks to explain social organization and change in terms of the roles performed by different social structures, phenomena, and institutions”(Chambliss & Eglitis 17). In which a French scholar, Émile Durkheim believes that any deviance acts such as Jim Jones’s actions, “serves social function” and “labeling some acts as deviant” reminds “members of society what is “normal” or “moral” ”(Chambliss & Eglitis 18). With that being said, I will be using the functionalist theoretical perspective in order to display how the evolution and formation of Jonestown impacted society.
