"Discipline and Punish"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how, in "Discipline and Punish", Michel Foucault considers, describes, and criticizes the prison system and its history. It looks at how he describes in detail the ancient systems of public torture, which developed to become private executions, and the dungeons that became prisons at a later stage. In his critique, Foucault then makes suggestions and comments regarding the shortcomings of the punitive system and how these shortcomings can be addressed.

Outline
Torture
Punishment
Discipline
Prison

From the Paper:

"The second part is a further exposition of the nature of punishment and also of crime and the criminal engaging in illegal actions. The more psychological viewpoint of crime and punishment as shown in the previous section is now considered in greater depth. Foucault goes on to describe how the changing attitude towards punishment has divides itself into a consideration of the exact nature of crime and also of the kind of people most likely to engage in criminal activities. The focus has thus turned inward towards the psyche rather than outward towards the body. According to Foucault, this also, interestingly enough, affected the nature of crime, which has evolved from violent crimes that are mostly physically oriented, to more inventive crimes such as fraud."

More papers on "Discipline and Punish":

• Book Review # 116929 : "Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison"
• Essay # 46544 : "Michel Foucault's "Discipline and Punish"
• Research Paper # 116658 : "School Discipline and Positive Re-enforcement"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: