Panopticon

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Panopticon blueprint by Jeremy Bentham, 1791

For other examples, see: Panopticon (disambiguation)

The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) prisoners without the prisoners being able to tell if they are being observed or not, thus conveying a "sentiment of an invisible omniscience." In his own words, Bentham described the Panopticon as "a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example." ^[1]

1 Conceptual history
2 Panoptic prison design
- 2.1 Panopticon prisons
3 Other panoptic structures
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Conceptual history

Morals reformed - health preserved - industry invigorated instruction diffused - public burthens lightened - Economy seated, as it were, upon a rock - the gordian knot of the Poor-Laws are not cut, .but untied - all by a simple idea in Architecture!

—Jeremy Bentham, ^[2]

Bentham derived the idea from the plan of a military school in Paris designed for easy supervision, itself conceived by his brother Samuel who arrived at it as a solution to the complexities involved in the handling of large numbers of men. Bentham supplemented this principle with the idea of contract management, that is, an administration by contract as opposed to trust, where the director would have a pecuniary interest in lowering the average rate of mortality. The Panopticon was intended to be cheaper than the prisons of his time, as it required fewer staff; "Allow me to construct a prison on this model," Bentham requested to a Committee for the Reform of Criminal Law, "I will be the gaoler[jailer]. You will see ... that the gaoler will have no salary -- will cost nothing to the nation." As the watchmen cannot be seen, they need not be on duty at all times, effectively leaving the watching to the watched. According to Bentham's design, the prisoners would also be used as menial labor walking on wheels to spin looms or run a water wheel. This would decrease the cost of the prison and give a possible source of income. ^[3]

Bentham devoted a large part of his time and almost his whole fortune to promote the construction of a prison based on his scheme. After many years and innumerable political and financial difficulties, he eventually obtained a favourable sanction from Parliament for the purchase of a place to erect the prison, but in 1811 after Prime Minister Perceval Spencer(1809-1812)^[4] refused to authorize the purchase of the land, the project was finally aborted. In 1813 he was awarded a sum of £23,000 in compensation for his monetary loss which did little to alleviate Bentham's ensuing unhappiness for the miscarriage.

While the design did not come to fruition during Bentham's time, it has been seen as an important development. For instance, the design was invoked by Michel Foucault (in Discipline and Punish) as metaphor for modern "disciplinary" societies and its pervasive inclination to observe and normalize. Foucault proposes that not only prisons but all hierarchical structures like the army, the school, the hospital and the factory have evolved through history to resemble Bentham's Panopticon. The notoriety of the design today (although not its lasting influence in architectural realities) stems from Foucault's famous analysis of it.

[edit] Panoptic prison design

The architecture

incorporates a tower central to a circular building that is divided into cells, each cell extending the entire thickness of the building to allow inner and outer windows. The occupants of the cells are thus backlit, isolated from one another by walls, and subject to scrutiny both collectively and individually by an observer in the tower who remains unseen. Toward this end, Bentham envisioned not only venetian blinds on the tower observation ports but also maze-like connections among tower rooms to avoid glints of light or noise that might betray the presence of an observer

—Ben and Marthalee Barton ^[5]

The Panopticon is widely, but erroneously, believed to have influenced the design of Pentonville Prison in North London, Armagh Gaol in Northern Ireland , and Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. These, however, were Victorian examples of the Separate system, which was more about prisoner isolation than prisoner surveillance; in fact, the separate system makes surveillance quite difficult. No true panopticons were built in Britain during Bentham's lifetime, and very few anywhere in the British Empire.

[edit] Panopticon prisons

Kaladwip Prison – Andaman Islands, India.
Pelican Bay State Prison – Del Norte County, California, USA.
Stateville Correctional Center – Joliet, Illinois, USA.
Twin Towers Correctional Facility – Los Angeles, California, USA
Chi Hoa – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Koepelgevangenis – Arnhem, The Netherlands
Presidio Modelo – Isle of Youth, Cuba
Caseros Prison – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Millbank Prison – London, United Kingdom

[edit] Other panoptic structures

The Panopticon was likewise later suggested as an "open" hospital architecture: "Hospitals required knowledge of contacts, contagions, proximity and crowding... at the same time to divide space and keep it open, assuring a surveillance which is both global and individualising", 1977 interview (preface to French edition of Jeremy Bentham's "Panopticon").

Contemporary social critics often assert that technology has allowed for the deployment of panoptic structures invisibly throughout society.^{[citation needed]} Surveillance by closed-circuit television cameras in public spaces and close monitoring of employees at work are examples of technologies that bring the gaze of a superior into the daily lives of the populace. The growth of panoptic monitoring technologies has provoked backlashes by privacy advocates.

This is similar to the methods used in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four by the thought police to control the citizenry. At any moment, a person may or may not be being observed via a telescreen, though whether or not they are being watched at any given moment is unknown to that person.

Other observers argue that these technologies don't always favor the hierarchical structure outlined by Bentham and Foucault, but can also enable individuals, through inverse surveillance or sousveillance, to appropriate technological tools for individual or public purposes. Still others predict a balanced state of a universal "participatory panopticon" in which there is an equiveillance, or equilibrium of monitoring and control structures between parties.

Middlesbrough, a town in the North of England, has put loudspeakers to the CCTV Cameras. They can transmit the voice of a camera supervisor. There are not yet any studies to determine how effective a deterrent this is.^[6]^[7]^[8]

[edit] References

^ Bentham, Jeremy. Panopticon (Preface). In Miran Bozovic (ed.), The Panopticon Writings, London: Verso, 1995, 29-95.
^ Jeremy Bentham. Panopticon. In Miran Bozovic (ed.), The Panopticon Writings, London: Verso, 1995, 29-95.
^ In Miran Bozovic (ed.), The Panopticon Writings, London: Verso, 1995, 29-95.
^ 10 Downing Street - Prime Ministers in History
^ Barton, Ben F., and Marthalee S. Barton. "Modes of Power in Technical and Professional Visuals." Journal of Business and Technical Communication 7.1, 1993, 138-62.
^ Where Big Brother Watches and Talks to You ABC News, September 29, 2006
^ Cameras Help Stop Crime The Hoya, September 22, 2006
^ 2006, But Has 1984 Finally Arrived? Indimedia.uk, 19 September 2006