Overview
- The great confinement of the 1600's - The insane, criminal, unproductive, drunks etc. of society were institutionalised to try and create a better society.
- This led to the insane corrupting the sane and the criminals corrupting non criminals, which led to specialised asylums.
- Inmates were treated like children, punished for bad behaviour and rewarded for good behaviour.
- The pillory showcased criminals and offenders of society- which put fear of that punishment into the heads of the public which encouraged good behaviour.
- Disciplinary Society: "A society in which control is exercised through socialization processes as manifest in schools, hospitals and factories"
- Michel Foucalt calls this Panopticism
- This was named after the Panopticon which was built in 1791, it was designed to be the perfect asylum.
- Prisoners have their own cell with an open back and front but can't see the prisoners next to them, they are constantly reminded that they are being watched because all they can see is the big central watch tower.
- Unlike a dungeon - which is hidden and repressed - the panopticon is well lit and on show.
- The idea of being constantly watched is drilled into inmates heads and they behave well because behaving badly doesn't get them anywhere and they will be seen.
- This feeling becomes so strong that there doesn't even need to be a guard in the watch tower, it's just ingrained in the couscous state of the inmates.
- Institutional Gaze - you start behaving how the people watching you want you to behave
- There are many examples of a Panopticon style set up in todays world, such as:
Open plan offices, open plan bars, studio spaces, google maps/ earth, CCTV, swipe cards, computer logs etc..
"Power is not something somebody has it is a relation between individuals, where there is
power, there is resistance"
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