Resource Tag: GUYANA

Influenced by the suicides of 923 people in Guyana in 1978, the author examines other examples of group suicide, where “group” can mean as few as two people. Topics range from imitative suicides to historical suicides.(PM)

This article provides biographical information about James Warren Jones, the leader of a cult that died by suicide in Guyana. A psychoanalytic interpretation of this information is presented. The author then theorizes reasons for Jones’ suicide & analyses the group dynamics of the cult in Freudian terms. (16 refs) (SC)

This article describes the mass suicide of American citizens in Jonestown, Guyana. The authors include a description of the initial investigation in Guyana & the subsequent investigation in Delaware. Medico-legal aspects are discussed & suggestions regarding reformations of the U.S. Federal government policies toward forensic investigation are included. An editorial is also included. (4 refs) […]

Letter to the Editor

Surveyed psychoanalysts in the San Francisco Bay area to determine their patient’s reactions both to the murder of the mayor and a city official and to the Jonestown suicide-murders. Prominent reactions involved a fear of loss of control over their own destructive impulses, deficiencies or loss of superego controls, and guilt and remorse for actual […]

This article examines the forensic investigative procedures of the U.S. Federal government regarding international tragedies involving American citizens. The author compares the Guyana Mass suicide with the plane crashes of Tenerife on the Canary Islands. 5 criticisms of the National Association of Medical Examiners & the International Reference Organization in Forensic Medicine and Sciences are […]

Malathion, an organic phosphate insecticide, has become the agent most commonly used for suicide attempts in Guyana. The clinical characteristics of 264 cases are described. As well with other types of organic phosphate poisoning, atropine is the mainstay of therapy after exposure to the toxin is terminated. The value of oximes in the treatment of […]