surveillance Flashcards
(18 cards)
what is the ratio of people to cameras?
1:13
how many CCTV cameras are there in the UK?
8,787,892
what is physical surveillance?
Methods such as CCTC and guards which are obviously there to surveil. CCTV monitors and records public behaviour. This is often used in court as evidence.
what is liquid surveillance?
This is your digital footprint. E.g. your phones browsing history, when you pay for something with a credit card, automatic number plate recognition.
What is self surveillance?
This is when people are so worried about the thought that other people are judging them to be doing a bad job they constantly check themselves, so thinking someone is surveilling you controls your own behaviour.
what is social control?
Social control refers to the formal and informal techniques that may be used to make the individual conform to social norms and values.
What is Foucaults disciplinary power?
Foucault’s concept of disciplinary power explains how individuals internalise surveillance and regulate their own behaviour.
* Example: Students conforming to school rules due to teacher oversight, workers adhering to corporate policies even when managers are not present.
Sovereign power – was typical of the period prior to the 19th century, when the monarch had power over people and their bodies. Punishment was a brutal, emotional spectacle i.e. public executions.
Disciplinary power – became dominant from the 19th century, a new system of discipline that governs the body AND soul through surveillance. Importantly, disciplinary power creates self-surveillance.
inhumane way of control
how does the panopticon illustrate disciplinary power?
Foucault illustrates disciplinary power with the panopticon.
The Panopticon – a design for a prison in which each prisoner in his own cell is visible to the guards from a central watchtower, but the guards are not visible to the prisoners. Thus the prisoners do not know when they are being watched.
Due to this, prisoners have to behave at all times as if they were being watched, and so the surveillance turns into self-surveillance.
how does disciplinary power operate in other social institutions?
Disciplinary power does not just operate within prison systems, but has dispersed to may other social institutions.
He argues this has created a ‘carceral archipelago’. That is, a series of prison islands where professionals such as teachers, social workers, and psychiatrists exercise surveillance over the population.
The panopticon is now a model of how power operates in society as a whole – everybody is being watched by those in power.
Most people now obey the rules because they know they are being watched – they regulate their own behaviour for fear of becoming the wrong kind of person.
Surveillance technology such as CCTV = technologies of power
how does disciplinary power control crime?
making individuals internalise norms through surveillance and regulation. Institutions like prisons, schools, and workplaces enforce self-discipline, reducing deviance. The Panopticon model ensures compliance even without direct supervision, as people modify behaviour due to the fear of being watched.
what are the roles of professionals in disciplinary power
: Police, teachers, doctors, and social workers enforce norms and shape behaviour through surveillance and intervention. They monitor, assess, and discipline individuals, ensuring compliance with societal rules, which indirectly controls crime by reinforcing acceptable behaviour.
give examples of discplinary power:
CCTV cameras in public spaces, biometric attendance in workplaces, school behaviour monitoring, social media tracking, and credit scoring systems. These encourage self-regulation by making individuals aware they are being observed, reducing deviance.
how has globalisation influenced disciplinary power?
Technology has expanded surveillance beyond national borders. Governments and corporations track individuals through digital footprints, increasing control. International data-sharing and predictive policing use global networks to identify risks, while social media enables worldwide public scrutiny, reinforcing self-discipline.
How does Lyon build on Foucaults panopticism?
Lyon builds on Foucault’s panopticism but argues that surveillance is no longer just about institutions disciplining individuals (e.g., schools, prisons, hospitals).
Instead, surveillance is everywhere—governments, corporations, and individuals all engage in it.
Lyon argues that modern societies have become surveillance societies, where surveillance is a routine and integral part of daily life.
Technology (CCTV, biometrics, data tracking) allows governments and corporations to collect and analyse vast amounts of personal information.
Surveillance is not just about crime control but also about social sorting—categorising individuals based on their data to determine their access to services and opportunities.
Examples: Social media monitoring, workplace surveillance, facial recognition systems - all monitor people’s behavior outside traditional institutions.
what are the positives of surveillance?
Helps reduce the fear of crime.
People feel less of a fear of being a victim of crime when they are aware of CCTV and other surveillance systems, as they believe that there is a greater chance of the perpetrator being caught so they are less likely to commit crime.
Helps to fight against terrorism.
Using data mining and social media monitoring links are able to be made between disparate terrorist groups
Provides evidence.
Both for the prosecution and the defence.
What are the negatives of surveillance?
Oppressive form of social control.
A few watching the many allows for the ruling class to shape the behaviour of the working class.
Limited evidence that it changes behaviour.
CCTV assumes that criminals know they are being watched and care enough to be deterred by this. Norris found that although CCTV reduced crime in car parks it did little to reduce other sorts of crime. Loveday and Gill – Burglars, shoplifters and fraudsters were not put off by CCTV.
Erosion of civil liberties.
Every action we take is monitored there is no such thing as privacy and our actions can be used against us at any time.
two reasons why surveillance may not reduce crime (4 marks)
- some crimes are hidden from surveillance (1 mark) they happen behind closed doors such as domestic violence
- some people may resist the effects of surveillance, not everyone is deterred by the presence of surveillance
- crimes may be displaced to areas of lower surveillance, crime is likely to be committed in areas of less surveillance
