The Manson Family

Police raid Manson Family ranch, Death Valley, California, 1969

While browsing the internet last week, I came across a news article about Susan Atkins. Atkins is a former Charles Manson Family follower in the 1960s and was also convicted of the murder of actress Sharon Tate in 1969. She has since been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer while serving life imprisonment in prison. Despite being refused parole several times in the past, she is now requesting for her release from prison after doctors determined that she has less than 6 months to live.

In today’s Comms lecture, the concept of Groupthink was introduced which I found extremely interesting and the mention of Susan Atkins leads me to research on the Manson Family.

The term, Groupthink was conceived by Irving Janis, a research psychologist at Yale University and a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. It refers to a situation in a group when members are deeply involved in the activities and beliefs of the group and feel a very strong sense of belonging such that their unity overrides other factors that may influence each member’s individuality. This will normally result in the group’s own unique thinking that they are “invincible”.

Immediately, the background of cults/sects came to mind where followers would devote their time and worship a person or an object. One perfect example of Groupthink in history would be The Manson Family.

 

The Manson Family 

Charles Manson was the “leader” of The Manson Family cult which was responsible for 9 murders in the summer of 1969, including the famous “Helter Skelter” murders of Sharon Tate and her other 3 house guests on August 9, 1969. He gathered followers who were mainly female, back in 1960s and at one time, they resided together at the Spahn Ranch, northwest of Los Angeles, CA, with almost 100 followers. Manson was discovered to have a domineering personality and was also referred to both as “Satan” and “Christ” by his followers, believing that he is a reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

Manson started out with 8 or 9 young female followers and travelled with them hippie-style in old school buses. The number of Family members increased throughout the months of travels to many places, eventually residing in the Spahn range in Chatsworth among other secluded locations close to deserts, etc. An artist inspired by art to make his own rock music, Manson was acquainted with Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys and was subsequently introduced to The Beatles’ White Album by acquaintances. Since then, Manson has been obsessed with  The Beatles and preached to his followers that they could “surpass them in fame” and convinced his followers that the social turmoil in the world he had predicted, was also predicted by The Beatles. (The Beatles’ songs were often big sources of controversy with many fans interpreting certain songs to be harbouring mysterious codes hinting apocalypse, the Devil’s work, the consumption of hard drugs and even the “Paul Is Dead” urban legend that revolves around the “death” of a member, Paul McCartney. These controversies were mainly centered around their lyrics and album artwork. The song “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” was infamously banned in some places including BBC because many thought its lyrics were a description/reference to an acid trip triggered by the consumption of the drug LSD.) Manson had also convinced his group that they should prevent disaster in the world, as if the White Album was directed at the Family.

Manson moved a couple of times with his group, to secluded places like Death Valley and the Canoga Park in a bid to place the group far from any interaction from the outside world. In Canoga Park, he even named the Family’s home the Yellow Submarine, a Beatles Reference. Charles Manson would have sexual intercourse with his female followers and reportedly called them “Charlie’s girls” and gave them aliases which they would live by, naming an obedient follower Susan Atkins, Sadie Mae, as influenced by a Beatles song “Sexy Sadie”. In one particular case, a father of one of the girls, Ruth Ann Moorehouse, had came for her after her parents believed that she was lured into a cult but he was given many doses of LSD and then became a follower of sorts himself.

Why did Manson command such respect and worship from his followers?

Manson is often described as having a “tremendous drive to call attention to himself” and would resort to negative behaviour to satisfy this urge. His sexual relations with his followers commands them to “listen” to him that he “owns” them in a way by calling them his “girls” and also normally uses LSD to manipulate their actual personality to his needs. He also found success in manipulating other people, even though not all of his followers agreed with his ideals such as a female follower, Linda Kasabian who was one of the 4 Family members told to go over to the Cielo Drive property where once of Manson’s acquaintances, Terry Melcher once resided. Manson instructed the 4 to “totally destroy everyone” in the house, even with no clear intention given by Manson (Atkins would later say that it was to instil fear in Terry Melcher because he gave his word on things that did not follow through, although they knew by then that Melcher is no longer living in that house) and having no idea who might be in the house that night.

This intention for the killing of Sharon Tate and her fellow house guests in the house she shared with her director husband, Roman Polanski is in fact, a very questionable excuse to why Manson wanted them killed. He also believed that the war between the blacks and the whites should begin very soon and since the blacks didn’t know how to start, he would show that how it’s done by carrying out the “Helter Skelter” murders, named as such because the media discovered the motivation behind Manson’s orders to his members for these murders were found in the lyrics of the Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter. Atkins later revealed there were more murders to be carried out, killings of rich wealthy white people that would “shock the world”. Those targeted included Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones with planned gruesome details as dictated by Atkins.

I guess the concept of Groupthink relates to interpersonal communication on a group level. A large number of followers believe in the ideas of a person who serves as their leader. All the actions and thoughts of the Family and how the members all obediently followed his instuctions are reflective of the symptoms of Groupthink. The symptoms of Groupthink are as follows:

Symptoms of Groupthink

Illusion of invulnerability

The group will generally feel like they “are the best” and “authorities” in the group will feel that their decision is made in the best interest of the group and that nothing will go wrong when going through with their plans.

- Manson felt as if he was “the best”, convincing his Family that he was both “Christ” and “Satan” and was going to be responsible  in bringing about a big change in the world, ruling it with the blacks after the massacre of several rich white people, targeted in the music and entertainment industry, all this despite being a white person himself.

Belief in group’s own morality

“Authorities” in the group will feel that their group’s decision towards or against something is the only correct decision in the group’s morals. These group morals do not necessarily mean that the decision made is seen as correct in the eyes of the law or outsiders.

- His Family believed in Manson’s words that a “war” between the blacks and whites were ensuing outside of their “hideout”. Manson had mentioned that there would be numerous murders of the white people by black people and the society of white would eventually fall, leading to self-annihilation by the whites. Murdering “wealthy white people” according to his plan in order to start the war and then hide in a secret city underneath Death Valley only to come out again when the war was over would seemed as if anyone who believed him should be deemed psychological disturbed but he held an influenced over his followers such that they believed his words were true. Carrying out his orders of the murders obediently has also affirmed in Manson’s status and resulting in his other followers thinking that his “laws” were correct and whatever they did was moral and just.

Shared stereotypes

Members in the group will share the same stereotype about a certain thing, situation, person/group or idea.

- Manson and the Family would share the same ideas he did, that they are changing the world as decoded in the Beatles’  White Album. They even wrote songs wth Manson and sang with him, hoping to release an album as widely-received as the Beatles’ White Album in order to promote their own views to the masses and trigger further chaos.

Collective rationalisation

All members in the group will follow exactly what their leader says and reject other forms of thinking that is not similar to their own.

- Carrying out the Tate/La Bianca murders will implicate the members whereas in Manson’s case, it may be more difficult to charge him seriously as he would be seen as the instigator/mastermind behind the plans. However, the members are willing to “blindly” follow his instructions, although fully knowing that they are commiting a crime in the eyes of the law. Atkins, one of his most obedient followers even explains that she will be willing to do anything for him based on how much she loved him alone. Even when Manson told Atkins to ”leave a sign… something witchy”, she does it for him, scrawling “PIG” on the front door of the Cielo Drive mansion in Sharon Tate’s blood. She had also harboured the thought of carving out Tate’s unborn baby (Tate was 8 and a half months pregnant then) and presenting it to Manson wrapped in a towel, thinking it would please him greatly. 

Self-Censorship

Everything said or done in the group will be according to the “culture” of the group. No other opinion or decision will be made that contradicts the “rules” of the group.

Illusion of unanimity

If an individual in the group does not agree with the decision being made, he does not speak out and instead gives his consent with the rest of the group, hence the “leader” mistaking it as a 100% agreement.

Pressure on dissenters

However, in the case that an individual voices a different opinion that’s unacceptable by the group’s beliefs, he will be “quelled”.

Mind-guards

The “leader” of the group will not stand to hear any other opinions that contradicts the thinking he has imposed on the rest of the group.

- In self-censorship, illusion of unanimity and pressure on dissenters and mindguards, the concepts are similar such that anyone with a different opinion or who did not agree to the Family’s actions do not speak out for fear that they could be forced to leave or even worse, get killed.  Due to this fear, any who did not agree with Manson probably did not dare to speak up, furthering the Groupthink and also empowering their leaders, who would think that all his followers are agreeing on everything he says.

- There was one such follower who was not as keen on the Family’s ideas as the rest of the followers. It was Linda Kasabian, who was also brought along to commit the Tate murders at the Cielo Drive house but was told to keep watch outside. She was not involved in the actual murders and at one point after hearing “horrifying sounds”, walked into the house on the rest to falsely inform Atkins that ”someone is coming” in a vain effort to stop the massacre.  In another instruction by Manson for another killing of a “piggy”, as he would name his victims, Kasabian was told to go to the home of an actor she knew to “finish him off”. However, once there, she deliberately led the others up to the wrong apartment, a neighbour of the actor and then hurriedly left before any murder took place. This was, however, not known to Manson.

Groupthink comes across as a powerful tool in empowering a certain group of people which may grow into a larger number over time and cause massive devastation. The Family’s ill actions are a cause of their mentally-disturbing ideals as broadcasted to his followers by Charles Manson. In a better perspective, if the influence had been about positive life-changing experiences or spreading the word on a religious belief, it might attract many who could place their beliefs in something trustworthy, positive and most importantly, harmless and undisruptive to society.

 

References:

What Is Groupthink?

Wikipedia – Charles Manson

Official Website – Charles Manson

Charles Manson and the Manson Family – A Detailed Biography by Marilyn Bardsley

Cielo Drive – The Story on the Manson Family & Their Victims

Biography of Charles Manson

Los Angeles Times – Susan Atkins Seeks Release from Prison

Picture Credit – Sheriffs Begin Dig at Manson Ranch 

 

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