Sunday, April 17, 2011


          Bentham came up with the imprisonment concept of the Panopticon which has guards in the center of a circle of prisoners that are all kept in one prisoner per cell.  The central idea behind this structure is that every prisoner is capable of being watched at any given time but is unable to perceive or relay to each other if they are being watched and when.  Prisoners are left in the dark and just assume that because they can be watched then they act as if they are which allows for the prisoners to behave without needing the presence of many guards.  They are discipline themselves simply because of the possibility of being watched and it is this whole idea that Michel Foucault took and applied to our own behavior.  He dug beyond the surface explanation of people behaving because they are being watched and asserted that even though they may or may not be watched, the possibility of being watched results in our own internalization of social pressures that we voluntarily abide by.  Just as prisoners in the Panopticon, we discipline ourselves.  Personally I’ve never thought had this take on how social pressures work but off of the top of my head here are quick everyday examples that are common:

·         * Taking a quick look around to see if there’s anybody around to see you litter.  Even if you don’t see anyone you may still decide not to litter.

·         *Deciding whether or not to tell a dirty/sexist/racist joke in a public place.  Even if you do decide to tell a joke you may do it in a hushed tone or not tell it at all.

·        * Cleaning up after your dog with the pooper scooper during a walk despite the temptation to continue walking without having to deal with handling excrement.

Many common everyday dilemmas that we deal with can be easily explained panoptically.  We internalized right and wrong and we don’t want anyone to see us do wrong so our temptations to break social rules compete against the panoptic social eye of anyone who may or may not be watching.

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