The Panopticon Effect

In simple terms, the panopticon effect is when people are trained to conduct in a way as if they were under constant surveillance (Brock 21). Through technological advancement in modern society, surveillance has become a model and is seen as a mean for security measures. This is due to the cameras in every shop, street and even in the sky. Nonetheless, it is a sensitive topic due to the risk of harming people’s privacy. Consequently, one cannot have both full privacy and full security (John Oliver).

The model of the panopticon was established by social theorist and an 18th century English professor, Jeremy Bentham. He conceptualized this model into an institutionalized building such as a prison. The design of this prison contain watchmen for many inmates. However, the watchmen could not be seen by the prisoners, therefore since the inmates could not see the guards they presumed that they were always being watched. This resulted with the inmates controlling their behaviour. Michel Foucault, a 20th century French philosopher, took the panopticon model to not just being an element of surveillance, but also inducing the ideas of power and space (Wong 1).
The structure of one’s community is built in a way that creates a hierarchy, as the “gaze” of surveillance is established for security. Moreover, with the individuals all behaving in a certain way due to the authority, creates homogenization which aids to normalize the community to act in a conventional matter in regards to the surveillance (Brock 17-23). Bentham’s blueprint of the prison was to design a space where the watchmen could not be seen. Thus, all inmates are subjected to behave accordingly and accept that the watchmen have authority over them, as they are the ones to judge the prisoners consequences if they cause any