Michel Foucault's Discipline And Punish: The Birth Of

The third chapter of the book, “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison” by Michel Foucault is a look at the measures that were put into place in the seventeenth century when the plague was discovered in a town. The chapter, entitled Panopticism, discusses the social theory, named after the Panopticon, developed by Foucault. There is strict order that must be followed by all members of the town to ensure that the plague does not spread throughout the town and kill all of its inhabitants. There is constant surveillance of all of the people in the town and it is almost as though they are living in a prison without having ever been convicted of a crime. “Each individual is fixed in his place. And, if he moves, he does so at the risk of
his life, contagion, or punishment.” Foucault then goes on to discuss lepers and how “the leper gave rise to rituals of exclusion, which to a certain extent provided the model for and general form of the great Confinement, then the plague gave rise to disciplinary projects.” The lepers were rejected and exiled to a separate location, much as prisoners are sent away to be incarcerated, but the prisoners are at least guilty of a crime.

The chapter fits into the theme of the book as it discusses the Panopitcon, which is an experimental laboratory of power in tended to help modify behavior. Foucault views the panopticon as a symbol of society’s surveillance. “It is an important mechanism, for its automatizes and disindividualizes power.”

Foucault finally discusses how the disciplinary methods developed in to modern punishment techniques. “The eighteenth century invented the techniques of discipline and the examination”. The modern instruments of penalty have softened from the ancient methods, but some things are still similar. “ The practice of placing individuals under “observation” is a natural extension of a justice imbued with disciplinary methods and examination procedures.”