Foucault’s Panopticism Revisited Effects of Panoptic Practices in Modern Prisons

Abstract

In his work Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Michel Foucault outlines the history of the penal system and analyzes how its methods of disciplinary power are integrated into larger parts of society. His theory of Panopticism is based on the Panopticon model created by Jeremy Bentham that used strict surveillance as a means of disciplinary control. This essay reviews Foucault’s critique of the Panopticon and attempts to explain why Panoptic practices in modern prisons, such as heavy regulation and surveillance of inmates, do not reform criminal behavior. This essay argues that these practices have a negative impact on the psychological development of inmates, contribute to institutionalization, and lead to high rates of recidivism. Constant surveillance, along with being denied the right to make personal choices, strips autonomy and power away from inmates. This essay concludes that Panoptic practices have no place in modern prisons because they only seek to punish and contain inmates rather than deal with the underlying factors that contribute to criminal behavior.