Discipline
From Geography
Discipline
Discipline was a major factor in Michel Foucaults thought. Foucault challenged the widely accepted idea that prisons became the consistent form of punishment due to humanitarian concerns of reformists. Foucault added that it was more than this, that culture shifts also played a role in the dominance of prison as a form of discipline. Foucault argues that discipline creates docile bodies and in order to construct such docile bodies the institute that disciples such as a prison, must constantly observe these bodies. so observation leads to docile bodies. Foucault believed that discipline, not through excessive force but through observation and molding the bodies to certain way of thinking was the best form of discipline. This coincides with the the idea of the panopticon as. Foucault published a book "Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison" in 1975. in this book he examines discipline and the changes in the western prison system that was emerging in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Discipline has to do with the idea of control as means of power in power-relationships (Foucault, 1983, p. 17). Power is based on the principle of action upon action (ibid., p. 220), which means that humans subjected to the power are conducted (ibid.) to conform to the norms prescribed by powerful institutions (ibid., p. 222). This conformation with norms and expectations can be called discipline. An interesting example is the metaphor of the panopticon in the centre of a prison: The prisoners can be controlled and surveyed everywhere they go, but they can be never sure if they are or not, because it is impossible for them to see if there is someone controlling or not. It allows for constant observation so that the prisoners are less likely to rule break if they think that they are being watched . The spatial configuration forces them into discipline: The institutionalized power makes them subject and conform to the norms of the prison.
Reference
Foucault, M. (1983). The Subject and Power. In Dreyfus, H.L. & Rabinow, P (Ed.). Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Philo (2000) Foucault's Geography
De Certeau, M. (1984). The Practice of Everyday Life. London:University of California Press.
Unknown Author (2011) http://en.wikipedia.org. Discipline and Punish [Electronic version]
Contributors
Edited by Janna Völpel s 301504112:27, 7 May 2012 (CEST)
Published by: --SamanthaHazlett 13:00, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
