CoP Task 3 - Panopticism

To oversimplify the meaning of Panopticism it is the act of being watched so as to stop anyone from disobeying the law, it is more commonly known in its building structures, the panopticon building. A panopticon is a circular building with a watchtower where a person of authority keeps an eye on all that he is put there to survey, this structure most commonly known to be used in prisons as it has been successful in keeping inmates under control by making them feel they are being constantly watched with nowhere to hide and no other interaction to take their attention away from that fact that they are being watched.

The panopticon does not stop at prison security though it can be found in almost every populated area in modern society, especially in town centres where security is needed the most, a person can not travel through a town centre at any time of day without being caught on at least multipe cameras. This is said to be for everyones security but there are some conspiracy people out there who think that every thing we ever do is actually recorded and stored on a database somewhere and that there is no privacy in the world anymore, while this is partly true the idea that every single thing we ever do will be recored for people to look at to make sure we are behaving is obsurd, there are not enough hours or people in existance to survey and make sure every person is obeying all the rules at all time, while the system is clearly working (maybe a little too well on some people) it clearly does not stop everyone from disobeying the rules, crime is as frequent as it has ever been and the prescence of security cameras in an area will simply not detter some poeple from generally violating the law.

Overall the panoptic system does have a clear effect especially in places like schools where the feeling of being watched is stronger then ever, especially known to the students who played games in the computer room and had an administrator come in and tell them to stop what they were doing, the feeling of being watched would be strongest if the person has already been caught once and embarrassed. So although it does work, the panoptic system is far from perfect but with no other alternative to try and keep people in check the government will just have to try and solve the ever rising issues that increased security raises whilst trying to explain to a stupid nation that it is all for their own good.