Punishment and Surveillance

Question 1

What is surveillance?

Answer 1

Refers to the monitoring of public’s behaviour for the purpose of controlling and preventing crime. It is carried out through technology - CCTV, etc.

Question 2

What are the 2 forms of punishment according to Foucault?

Answer 2

Soverign power and disciplinary power.

Question 3

What is sovereign power? (Foucault)

Answer 3

The monarch had the power over people’s bodies so inflicting punishment on the body, e.g. branding, amputation or disfigurement, was a sign of control.

Question 4

What is disciplinary power? (Foucault)

Answer 4

Seeks to govern the body and mind through surveillance. It turns surveillance into self-surveillance. This has pervaded every aspect of society (schools, workplaces..).

Question 5

What is the aim of disciplinary power? (Foucault)

Answer 5

To rehabilitate the offender through intensive monitoring.

Question 6

What was the Panopticon? (Foucault)

Answer 6

Prison system designed by Jeremny Bentham. The prison was designed to have the guards in the centre, they could see any cell at any time, but prisoner can’t see them. The few can see the many - prisoners do not know if they are being watched, but know they might be. Surveillance turns into self-surveliiance and discipline turns into self-discipline - control takes place inside the prisoner.

Question 7

What is discplinary power a form of? (Foucault)

Answer 7

A form of carseral archmelago - ‘prison islands’. Through which professionals such as teachers, doctors, etc. exercise surveillance over the population.

Question 8

What is electronic panopticon? (Foucault)

Answer 8

Modern technology is ised to monitor us, e.g. CCTV.

Question 9

What is the evaluation of Foucault’s theory on surveillance?

Answer 9

Assumes that retirbutive, expressive punishment disappear in modern society.
Exaggerates the extent of control over individuals.
CCTV is a from of surveillance, after a while people get used to it and their behaviour reverts back to normal.
CCTV can be accused of disciplinary crime and bring an electronic form of male gaze.

Question 10

How does Goffman criticise Foulcault’s theory on surveillance?

Answer 10

Prison inmates and mental health patients can resist control.

Question 11

What does Mathiesan argue about media and surveillance?

Answer 11

The media enable the few to see the many thus surveillance from below takes place. He calls this synopticon - where veryone watches everyone.

Question 12

Why do politicians fear media surveillance? (Mathiesan)

Answer 12

As it may discover information that would damage their career - social control of behaviour.

Question 13

How do cyclists maintain road safety? (Mathiesan)

Answer 13

Cyclists monitoring members of the public through helmet cameras in case of traffic incidents. This makes road users exercise self-discipline.

Question 14

How can the public control the controllers? (Mathiesan)

Answer 14

By filming police wrongdoing. Mann et al calls the sousveillance - surveillance from below.

Question 15

What is the evaluation of Mathiesan’s theory on surveillance?

Answer 15

Synopticon and surveillance cannot always reverse established hierachies of surveillance.
Under anti-terrorism laws the police have the power to confiscate the cameras and phones of citizen jounalists.

Question 16

What does Haggerty and Ericson argue about surveillance?

Answer 16

Foucault argued that surveillance involves the manipulation of bodies in confined spaces such as prisons. Haggerty and Ericson argues that today surveillance involves the manipulation of virtual objects (digital data) in cyber space.

Question 17

What are surveillant assemblages? (Haggerty and Ericson)

Answer 17

Different technologies being combined, e.g CCTV is analysed using facial recognition software to monitor individuals.

Question 18

How is new technology different to Foucault’s disciplinarian power? (Feeley and Simon)

Answer 18

1. It focuses on groups, not indivduals.
2. It is not interested in rehabilitating them, just preventing them from offending.
3. It uses calculations of risk called actuarial analysis which calculates the risk of an event happening, e.g. young drivers’ risk of having a traffic collison.

Question 19

What is the purpose of surveillance? (Feeley and Simon)

Answer 19

Not rehabilitation, it is to predict and prevent future offending. It does so by applying surveillance techniques to identify, classify and manage groups of levels of dangerousness.

Question 20

What is the purpose of social sorting according to Lyon?

Answer 20

To categorise people so that they can be treated differently according to the level of risk they pose.

Question 21

What does social sorting result in according to G.Marx?

Answer 21

Places entire groups under categorical suspicison - suspected of wrongdoing beacuse they belong to a particular group.

Question 22

What is the problem to CCTV according to Norris and Armstrong?

Answer 22

CCTV operatoes make discriminatory judgements about who among the 1000s of potential subjects they focus on. There is a massively disproportionate targeting to young black males because they belong to a particular social group.

Question 23

What did Ditton et al find about the managers of CCTV?

Answer 23

That they did not think using technology to check on whether car’s tax discs had expired was appropriate so the motorists’ offences were left unchecked.

Question 24

What are the justifications of punishment?

Answer 24

1. Acts as a deterrent.
2. Provides rehabilitation.
3. Incapacitation.

Question 25

How does punishment act as a deterrent?

Answer 25

Deters previous criminals from offending agains as well as deterring the rest of us from criminal behviour as we know we’ll be punished.

Question 26

How does punishment provide rebab?

Answer 26

Through education for prisoners so when they come out of prison they can get jobs, not re-offend.

Question 27

How does punishment provide incapacitation?

Answer 27

By keeping criminals locked up, they are prevented from breaking the law again. This includes imprisonment, execution, the cutting off of hands.

Question 28

What is retribution?

Answer 28

Means ‘paying back’. The criminals deserve to be punished and society deserves is revenge. This justification is expressive - it expresses society’s outrage.

Question 29

What is capital punishment?

Answer 29

Abolished in 1970. Majority of Britain would like to see the reintroduction of capital punishment. But it is against the ECHR + UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Question 30

What is the evaluation of capital punishment?

Answer 30

In the USA, the states that have the death penalty also have the highest homicide rates so capital punishment does not act as a deterrent.

Question 31

What are the reasons for imprisonment?

Answer 31

1. Protect the public - dangerous people.
2. Punish criminal behaviour - media shows them as soft, but are overcrowded, degrading and violent.
3. Reform criminals - educational programmes.
4. Deter other people from crime - threat of prison prevents people committing crime.

Question 32

What are the reasons for mass incarceration according to Garland?

Answer 32

1. Ideolgical resource - US prisons soak up 30-40% of unemployed, making capitalism seem successful
2. Growing politicisation of crime control - gov adopting ‘tough on crime’ polcies.
3. War on drugs - as it is so widespread, the supply of arrestable and imprisonable offenders is limitless.

Question 33

What is transcarcertaion?

Answer 33

Refers to the idea that individuals have become locked into a cycle of control. For example, brough up in care, the sent to young offenders’ institute, then adult prison. It is a result of a blurring of boundaries between CJS and welfare agencies.

Question 34

What is the evaluation of imprisonment?

Answer 34

High rates if recidvism - prison fails to deter or rehabilitate.
Prison is where inmates learn to be better criminals.
Many prisoners suffer from mental health issue, can commit suicide.

Question 35

What are ASBOs?

Answer 35

Intro in 1998, anti-social behaviour disorder. Behaviour is considered anti-social if it causes harrassment, alarm or distress, e.g. vandalims, theft, abusive behaviour, begging. Issued by local magistrates. If ASBO is breached - becomes a criminal matter punishable with a fine or imprisonment

Question 36

What is the evaluation of ASBOs?

Answer 36

Target the weakest members of society - youth.
Ineffective as they are often breached.
Have become badges of honour.

Question 37

What are parenting contracts and orders?

Answer 37

Target the parents on unruly children. Parenting contracts is the 1st step, trying to get parents to improve their parenting skills and take on their responsibilites, e.g. by attending parenting classes. Issued by magistrates if a child is involved in anti-social behaviour. It can require parents to attend parenting classes for up to 3 months.

Question 38

What are curfews and dispersal orders?

Answer 38

Ban children from public places. Councils can seek a local child curfew order for up to 90 days, This requires all children under 16 to be home by 9pm. The police have the power to break up gorups of 2 or more.

Question 39

What is the evaluation of curfews and dispersal orders?

Answer 39

Leads to labelling to the young.

Question 40

What is probation?

Answer 40

Release from prison before full setence is over, for good behaviour. Need to meet probation officer once a week or local police stattion. Need to stick to terms of the probation - less stigma and cheaper than prison.

Question 41

What are fines?

Answer 41

Sum of money paid to authorities by and offender. Less stigma. 1st time offenders - effective compared to probation/prison in preventing re-offending. Continual use can devalue effect, e.g. with prosititues it can be seen as an occupation hazard or part of the costs of offedning and so means little.

Question 42

What is community service?

Answer 42

Sentenced to x number of hours of community service, in your own time. Less stigma.

Question 43

What is electronic tagging?

Answer 43

Alarm goes off if curfew is breaches. When alarm goes off - police notified - punished. Less stigma.

Question 44

What is property seizing?

Answer 44

If the property brought is brought using illegal momey - could be seized. Police will auction off the property - has to be proven in court. Money goes to gov.

Question 45

What is Durkheim’s view on punishment?

Answer 45

Punishment is healthy and functional for society. The function is to maintain solidarity and reinforce shared norms and values. It maintains value consensus, serves to heal wounds opened by criminals. Punishment is expressive; it expresses society’s outrage at the offence.

Question 46

What is retributive justice? (Durkheim)

Answer 46

In traditional societies, solidarity between individuals is based on their similarites. Punishment is severe and cruel and its motivation is expressive.

Question 47

What is restitative justice? (Durkheim)

Answer 47

In modern societies, solidarity is based on people’s interdependence and the damage must be required. It is needed - compensation for the victim/society - this type of justice is instrumental.

Question 48

What is the Marxist view on punishment?

Answer 48

Function of punishment is part of the repressive state apparatus. It maintains the existing social order. Punishment reflects the type of economic base of the society, e.g. in capitalism, price is placed on workers’ time so criminals ‘pay for their crime’.