Panopticon
Panopticon,J. Bentham 's term ( 1843 ) for a proposed type of prison, consisting of cells ranged round a central point from which a warder could observe the prisoners while they could see neither him nor their fellow prisoners in adjacent cells. Foucault took up the idea in Discipline and Punish ( 1975 ), his study of the change in the way power was exercised after the 16th cent. Before this he claims power was exerted through violence and coercion of the body, whereas the body was subsequently schooled to discipline itself. The Panopticon exemplifies this change; the prisoner, unable to see the guard and know whether observation is taking place at any given time, exercises self-control over behaviour and demeanour.
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