LECTURE 3// Panopticism

Panopticism
Institutions and Institutional Power.

-A study into the way we are raised and how it affects our thought and actions.
-How institutions affect our thoughts and actions.
-Social Control

-Berfore the 1600's madmen were tollerate, the village idiot was common but there was no division between the sane or insane. The disabled were often given jobs that they would not be considered for even today. 
-After the 1600's a new attitude of work emerged. Anxiety emerged towards the socially useless, those who could not perform tasks as efficiently began to be cast out. 

-'Houses of correction' are created for the Diseased, Mad, Criminals and Single Mothers.
-In the houses labour was used as a form of moral reform. 
-Im the 18th century the houses of correction were seen as a huge mistake. It was a melting pot of the unwanted which caused massive social problems. 
-The houses of correction were broken up into Hospitals, Prisons and Mental Institutions. 

-In the Asylums inmates were no longer beaten, they were treated like children; good behaviour was rewarded whilst bad behaviour was punished. They were being re-educated. 

-Control switched from physical control to mental control, this lead to the emergence of this form of control on all people in society. 
-Social experts emerge in each field, like phycologists, doctors. This sub-validates the new system. 

-In this modern form of discipline we take responsibility for our own actions, consequences, punishments and rewards. 

-Foucault was interested in this new form of power. "Modern discipline is a technology." aimed to control the conduct and improve the performance of the individual. 
-Foucault based his new theories on the Panopticon, a multifunctional building laid out in a circular fashion, with cells around the peripheral wall facing into one control tower. Every Cell could have a full view of the control tower but not of any other cells, giving the impression of always being watched. Each cell had a full open front (with bars) facing the control tower and a small window at the back looking outside. 
-Most Panopticons became prisons.
-The design had a fiendish mental effect on the inmates.
-Everything inside is light, visible and on display, the inmates are under constant scrutiny. 

-In the panopticon you are constantly reminded of supervision, you never behave independently. You are isolated but never alone, it is a form of phycological torture. 

-We are always being watched in the panopticon, once this panoptic effect has taken place the inmate begins to self-regulate. Because the guards may or may not be present at any time but the inmate is unsure they begin to behave automatically. This is an allegory for social control. 

-When people believe that they are permanently visible they tow the line.
-For example the open pan office is built, the myth that it is designed to make sure everyone gets along is told as the truth. In reality the knowledge of scrutiny the workers are under makes them work much harder. They are more efficient as a tool. 
-The open plan bar is another example. Bouncers and bar staff can see all that is going on, this changes the behaviour of the customers, whereas cosy pubs offer shelter from scrutiny. 

-In this respect we live our lives to conform to the wishes of others. 
-CCTV
-PC monitoring on networked machines
-Sign in sheets
are examples from college, we turn up even if we dont have to. 

-The relationship between Power, Knowledge and the Body. "Power relations are an immediate control of the body." Creating DOCILE BODIES, which are self-monitoring, self-correcting and obedient. 

-Power is a relationship: Power is not something that one person has over another, it is a relationship, there has to be a degree of acceptance of the power exercised. For example:
-Facebook
-The Police
-Family
-god
-Mass Culture