Panopticism

Panopticism is the control of conduct, behaviour and performance. It derives from the word Panopticon. Jeremy Bentham designed the Panopitcon as a way to create a disciplinary power and society. They could be used as hospitals or schools amongst others, however the majority that were built were as prisons and asylums. The Panopticon was a circular building full of individual cells, open from the front with bars and lit from the back via windows, each cell looked towards the centre where there would normally be a tower that could hold guards or doctors depending on the institution. The inmates could never see each other only the constant presence of the guards. This created a mental effect and soon the inmates would behave in the way the supervisor would want them to behave without having to actually do anything. It was the constant reminder that you are always being watched. The inmates were permanently isolated which caused a psychological issues, almost as a form of torture. Foucault (1975) stated that power functions automatically.

The Panopticon wasn't just about a form of control and discipline but also about watching, observing, scrutinizing and classification. It was a means of surveillance, to confine but also study the insane. Panopticism is a new form of power, that you are always being watched in some way, shape or form. An open plan office is an example of this, you are constantly seen by others so it changes your behaviour. We live in a surveillance society where every single action we do is watched in some way. There are countless of CCTV cameras around so it becomes self regulation, we are controlling ourselves for the fear of being caught doing something we shouldn't. It is similar within the social media aspect, everything is observed by someone so it can make you behave in a certain way to how you normally are, which could in turn shape an identity. Foucault describes it as a mental process yet it is not physically conforming.