Panopticism

Panopticism summery by Kelly bruce/Cantrell.

Panopticism is the theory that criminals and deviants will behave and refrain from bad behavior if they feel they are being watched at any given moment.

A panopticon was a prison system that enabled a guard or “watcher” to see into any one of the prison cells at any given time without having to run from room to room, this was done not by the use of modern technology but by the design of the building. Circular in shape, the prison would have a centre that oversaw all the other cells and that way the guard in the middle could simply turn and look into any room of his choice.

The prisoners were not aware “when” they were being watched, they were simply aware that there was a “possibility” that they were being watched at any time and so the panopticon had a reversed psychology effect on the prisoners that ensured their good behavior.

There are many aspects of modern day culture that reflect Panopticism, for example CCTV, everywhere we go we are subtly “reminded” that we are being watched by CCTV, or that we are on camera, thieves will be prosecuted, this is a neighborhood watch area, etc. We see these signs on buses, trains, in shopping outlets, or even in your local neighborhood area.

But does this technique work in today’s society as it may have done back in history? On some level yes it does, when accompanied by other factors such as bright lights, public places and patrolling police officers.

But in cases of solitude and high crime areas people are “not” scared by these messages, but instead “offended” by them, and some may even see them as a challenge to act out worse crimes or acts of vandalism.

Do security cameras make a person feel safe when walking down the dark street at night? In my experience I would have to say no, someone could still attack you or worse, yes their blurred image may possibly be on camera depending on location and availability, angles etc. But what good has that done? Did it stop you from being attacked? No. And the attacker knows this also, they also know that their chances of being caught from CCTV are very low, seeing as we all know how bad the picture quality on a CCTV camera actually is. (thanks to television broadcasts and home CCTV kits, CCTV surveillance in movies etc)

So to an extent CCTV can work but only if accompanied by other more secure methods of preventing crime. It is also down to the individual and their state of mind as to whether they are particularly bothered about the notion of being watched, or if they are so used to it as a way of life that the thought never even crosses their minds. I for one, never feel as though I am being “watched” as such when I walk around the city, although I am aware that CCTV is in place, I do not actually envision anyone actually “watching” it 24 hours a day, at worst someone may review the recordings every so often or maybe even only in the case of a crime being reported, so I don’t really feel as though I am being “watched” in this way.

Interestingly though, if one is to make eye contact with such a device, they may look away uncomfortably, as though “seeing” the camera itself, as a pose to a sign that just tells you there is a camera, makes one feel less at ease, or in some cases more at ease, in feeling you can be seen because you can see “them”. (“Them” in this case being the robotic eyes, or in other words CCTV cameras) This notion takes me back to John Bergers “ways of seeing” essay and the first few lines written about how “soon after we can see, we are aware that we can also be seen”.

Another aspect of panopticism is that of “reality TV shows” in which people “willingly” subject themselves to the public eye by entering an area, house or show in which they are being constantly monitored by a “fly in the wall” surveillance system in order to showcase their everyday qualities and so called “real-life” personalities to the general public.

Although one could argue that this is not “reality” TV because although the people may not be trained actors or professionals, they will still behave differently because they will know at all times they are being watched, on both a conscious and unconscious level.

The same applies to the stressed out parent in the grocery store who finds that his or her children are not behaving as they would at home and is torn about what to do about it in such a public setting away from the norm at home, Even a small child can pick up on this difference and therefore is already being subjected to the notion of Panoptics before they are even learning how to articulate a sentence.