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Foucaults theory of punishment
Foucault discipline and punishment david garland sage publishing
Foucault punishment theory
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In Michel Foucault’s 1975 work Discipline and Punish, he writes about his ideas of punishment as well as the idea of panopticism, as designed by Jeremy Bentham. Bentham, a utilitarian, writes of his own ideas of punishment in the work, Principles of Morals and Legislation. Bentham’s idea that punishment should always be for a ‘greater good’, focused on the reformation of the criminal, and retributive justice combined with Foucault’s ideas that power and knowledge go hand in hand and plays a part in societal control create a base of ideas on the concept of punishment. Both men’s ideas concerning panopticons also add to this knowledge base. These fundamental ideas play into the idea of what punishment is for and why it has an important role
Have you ever wonder if there is any good justification for the policy of punishing people for breaking laws? Boonin’s definition of punishment consists of Authorized, Reprobative, Retributive, Intentional Harm. The problem of punishment incorporates three different answers. Consequentialism, which makes punishment beneficial (will do good for the people later in the future). Retributivism punishment is a fitting response to crime. As well as, the option of ‘other’ punishment can be a source of education, or expressive matter. Moreover a fourth answer can be an alternative called restitution, punishment is not necessary for social order. In The Problem of Punishment, by David Boonin deeply studies a wide range of theories that explain why the institutions is morally permitted to punish criminals. Boonin argues that no state , no-one succeeds with punishment. To make his argument stronger, he endorses abolitionism, the view
Ever feel as though someone is watching you? You know that you are the only one in a room, but for some reason you get an eerie feeling that you are not alone? You might not see anyone, but the eyes of a stranger could be gazing down on you. In Foucault's "Panopticism," a new paradigm of discipline is introduced, surveillance. No one dares to break the law, or do anything erroneous for that matter, in fear that they are being watched. This idea of someone watching your every move compels you to obey. This is why the idea of Panopticism is such an efficient form of discipline. The Panopticon is the ideal example of Panopticism, which is a tool for surveillance that we are introduced to in “Panopticism.” Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," has taken the idea of surveillance one step further. The government not only observes everyone, but has complete control over society. The citizens of the United States cannot even think for themselves without being interrupted by the government. They are prisoners in their own minds and bodies. The ideals of “Panopticism” have been implemented to the fullest on society in Vonnegut’s "Harrison Bergeron," through physical and mental handicaps.
Herbert Morris and Jean Hampton both view punishment as important to a healthy society. However, their views on what kind of role does punishment plays in a healthy society are vastly different. Morris believes that when one commits a crime they “owe a debt to the society and the person they wronged” and, therefore the punishment of that person is retributive, and a right for those who committed this wrong (270). Hampton, on the other hand, believes that punishment is a good for those who have strayed in the path of being morally right. Out of the two views presented, I believe that Hampton view is more plausible, and rightly places punishment as a constructive good that is better suited for society than Morris’s view.
In Martin Perlmutter's essay "Desert and Capital Punishment," he attempts to illustrate that social utility is a poor method of evaluating the legitimacy of it. Perlmutter claims that a punishment must be "backward looking," meaning that it is based on a past wrongdoing. A utilitarian justification of capital punishment strays from the definition of the term "punishment" because it is "forward looking." An argument for social utility maintains that the death penalty should result in a greater good and the consequences must outweigh the harm, thereby increasing overall happiness in the world. Perlmutter recognizes the three potential benefits of a punishment as the rehabilitation of an offender, protection for other possible victims, and deterring other people from committing the same crime. The death penalty however, obviously does not rehabilitate a victim nor does it do a better job at protecting other potential victims than life imprisonment. Since a punishment must inflict harm on an individual, deterrence is the only argument that utilitarians can use to defend the death penalty. The question then ari...
Thomas More’s Utopia and Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World , are novels about societies that differ from our own. Though the two authors have chosen different approaches to create an alternate society, both books have similarities which represent the visions of men who were moved to great indignation by the societies in which they lived. Both novels have transcended contemporary problems in society , they both have a structured, work based civilization and both have separated themselves from the ways of past society. It is important when reading these novels to focus on the differences as well as the similarities. The two novels differ in their views of love, religion, and the way to eliminate social classes. These differences seem to suggest that if we do not come closer to More’s goal in Utopia, we will end up in a society much like that of Huxley’s Brave New World.
...e concept of panopticon is enough in our society to insure discipline when he says, “A real subjection is born mechanically from a fictitious relation. So it is not necessary to use force to constrain the convict to good behavior, the madman to calm, the worker to work, the schoolboy to application, the patient to the observation of the regulations. Bentham was surprised that panoptic institutions could be so light: there were no more bars, no more chains, no more heavy locks” (Foucault 289). Only thing that our society needs today to make it a better place is panopticon. This is exactly what Foucault is saying when he says, “panoptic institutions could be so light”. People in our society are just like the prisoners inside the panopticon. We think that some is watching from the tower and we behave properly similar to the traffic rules example that I talked about.
As a social reformer, Bentham applied this principle to the laws of England-- for example, those areas of the law concerning crime and punishment. An analysis of theft reveals that it not only causes harm to the victim, but also, if left unpunished, it endangers the ve...
The theory begins with a vivid description of the public torture of Robert- François Damiens who was convicted of attempted regicide in the mid-18th century. Damiens was subject to execution via drawing and quartering, an English form of torture that involved strapping the victim to a wooden panel while ripping their body apart limb from limb. By the earth 19th century inmates were no longer publically tortured but instead forced to undergo a rigorous daily schedule. Foucault brings these ideas into question as a way to show the profoundly rapid changes in the western penal system. To Foucault, these changes occurred not as a way of humanizing inmates but as another form of subjection. He attempts to tie humans growing scientific knowledge with that of the technological development and growing prison development at the time. He argues that knowledge and power feed on one another, which is a rejection of the notion that the two are merely separate entities. For Foucault, one of the greatest punishments inflicted upon humans is the notion of identity and the way it can be used to control, regulate, and watch citizens. He argues that public torture was a theatrical production but was stopped after producing unwanted consequences. Torture must be carried out in a way that does not produce unwanted consequences, but achieves very specific purposes. Torture was
In order to answer the question, how Foucault’s theory of the disciplinary society can be used to understand the body in the society, I would like to begin this essay by returning to Foucault’s book – Discipline and Punish: The birth of the prison.
There have been , since the time of the Enlightenment, two distinct models for disciplinary institutions. Both of these models may be seen in the form of prisons. The contemporary ideal of the institutions derives its form from Bentham's Panopticon. In the period shortly following the age of Enlightenment, Bentham, an economist by trade, began to critically evaluate the disciplinary institutions of the day. Seeing that the model of the prison could be characterized as a form of discipline-blockade, he set out to improve the functionality of the prison as well as other institutions. Being an economist, Bentham saw that these institutions were not functionally productive. In describing the discipline blockade form Michel Foucault writes that it is, "turned inwards towards negative functions: arresting evil, breaking communications, suspending time."(209, Discipline and Punish) Now although this may seem befitting of criminal behavior, there is another disciplinary model which, when employed, will achieve far greater results than that previously described. This new form is termed a, "discipline-mechanism" by Foucault.(209) This mechanism is not limited in practice to prisons, its widespread use can form a disciplinary society through its employment in the minute institutions of society. Its deployment will create a disciplinary society where power is not accumulated but is made functional and useful in maintaining societal discipline. However, before singing the praises of this new mechanism, it would be beneficial to analyze the pre-existing forms of discipline and how they lead to this new model. Also, it would not be wise to readily accept this panopticism without realizing the social ramifications of this n...
The Law today is a summary of various principles from around the world from the past and the present. Early practises of law were the foundation of the law that we know and abide by today. These practises were referred to as the Classical school. Over time however, different criminologist have altered and greatly improved the early, incomplete ideas and made them more complete and practical to more modern times. This newer version is referred to as the Positivist school. This rapid change from the classical to the positivist perspective was due to the change and growth of civilization. Even though one perspective came from another, they are still different in many ways and it is evident when relating them to section 462.37, Forfeiture of Proceeds of Crime, and section 810, Sureties to keep the Peace. The Classical School of criminology’s time of dominance was between 1700 and 1800. Its conception of deviance was that deviance was a violation of the social contract. Classical theorists believed that all individuals were rational actors and they were able to act upon their own free will. A person chose to commit crimes because of greed and because they were evil. The primary instrument that could be used in regards to the classical school to control crime was to create “criminal sanctions that instil fear of punishment in those contemplating criminal acts” (Gabor 154). Classical school theorists believed the best defence was a good offence and therefore they wanted to instil so much fear into people about what would happen to them if they were to commit a crime that even those who were only thinking of committing a crime were impacted greatly. The classical school individuals operated entirely on free will and it was their ...
Foucault, M. (1995) Discipline and Punishment The Birth of the Prison [online]. 2nd ed. USA: Penguin Books, Ltd. [Accessed 01 January 2014].
Davis, M. (1997). Punishment as societal-defense (Book Review). Ethics, 107, 532-4. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from Social Sciences Full Text database.
This essay will attempt to look at the above view in depth, to answer the question of what the characteristic of modern punishment is for Durkheim. The essay will then move onto Foucault and his views. I will deal with each view separately, as is not easy to contrast and compare their views because they have a very different outlook on society.
The Classical School of Criminology generally refers to the work of social contract and utilitarian philosophers Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham during the enlightenment in the 18th century. The contributions of these philosophers regarding punishment still influence modern corrections today. The Classical School of Criminology advocated for better methods of punishment and the reform of criminal behaviour. The belief was that for a criminal justice system to be effective, punishment must be certain, swift and in proportion to the crime committed. The focus was on the crime itself and not the individual criminal (Cullen & Wilcox, 2010). This essay will look at the key principles of the Classical School of Criminology, in particular