Effect of Enlightenment on Punishment

Effect of Enlightenment on punishmentPunishment is a pattern which is open to legion(predicate) an(prenominal) definitions in a sense that, when look at plague and penalisation, the definition depends stringently on the place, culture and beliefs that an various(prenominal) associates themselves with. When we look at crime and penalisation in particular, the meaning behind r planegement differs due to it universe a concept that besidest joint be defined in many assorted dashs, for instance, a the legal process whereby violators of criminal law ar condemned and basic in accordance with specified legal categories and procedures (Garland, 1990, p. 17) or in a more than gen date of referencel sense the act of inflicting a consequence or penalty on someone as a result of their ruin doing, or the consequence or penalty itself (Your Dictionary, 2015). Throughout history we crap seen a drastic change in non only(prenominal) the way that a criminal receives penalty, ne vertheless overly the environment in which the individual is placed, eludinging from the superior general existence humiliation and intense physical penalty to punishment of ones personal ability to think and background in a cloak-and-dagger sphere. Furthermore, this paper is going to look yet at the movement of intense punishment of the consistency in the mankind eye to seeing how punishment has lessened over metre by punishing the mind in a orphic environment, similarly critically analysing what it is that we consider to be punishment today.Throughout the early 18th century, wrongdoers were habituated to incapacitation devices and visible punishment much(prenominal) as stocks, the pillory, flogging, stretching, etc. which were located in a public space in an attempt to humiliate or deride the offender hoping to prevent future offending or re-offending (Miethe Lu, 2005). In saying that, these systems did non only apply to those criminals who went against societ al norms moreover they in any case applied to individuals or groups of people who did non follow the law decent in name of religion. Classen (2012), mentioned that by dint ofout the Middle Ages, it was known as the achievement that was filled with law-breaking criminals, force play, blood feuds, anarchy, vengeance and also exposing the people to groups of criminals much(prenominal) as gangs and murderers. In saying that, due to the shortage of surveillance and technology in this period of beat, this meant that innocent people were more likely to be punished if in that respect were no eye witnesses bring out at the time of the crime. Knowing that in that location was a lack of surveillance and technology meant that an innocent individual were more likely to be punished for a crime that they did not commit. Furthermore, when looking for at the huge impact that violence had on this time period and combining it with the understanding that the law was not systematized, this could have invited not only the opportunity to use public corporal punishment in assorted ways exactly also punish an individual tyrannically no matter how severe the crime is (White, Haines, Asquith, 2012).As we begun to draw close the eighteenth century, we not only saw the rise into the Enlightenment era, but we also begun see some movement in terms of punishment where it focussed on independence, creator and logic over tradition. Not to mention, that this was the time period in which we saw the arrival of Classical Criminology, which because gave the pile that criminals were considered to be rational thinkers who committed an offence of their own accord. However, the main headstone here is that this idea saw punishment as being urge on and corresponding to the offence that was committed. Classical theorists created a starting point in terms of authority systems which contradicts tyrannical punishment by offering otherwisewise ways in which they crapper punish a n offender through with(predicate) non-violent means. atomic number 53 major pillow slip of this would be from that of Michel Foucault, who further developed Jeremy Benthams concept of the Panopti arsehole. The make of the panoptican is seen as a circular structure which contains a surveillance tower which contains prison cells around it. In saying that, the main reason behind this panoptican was to try and prevent the occurrence of bad behaviour by presenting prisoners with the delusion that they atomic number 18 put under surveillance watch 24/7. Even though the inmate knows that they are constantly being watched, they silence do not know when it is exactly that the guards are watching them. This ends up leading to why this model was created, to increase good behaviour (Foucault, 1977). In addition, it is evident that a plan set up to shift public corporal punishment to the mind and the private sphere through using Benthams notion of the panoptican model as one of the many alternatives, although, this then meant that inmates freedom was taken from them by punishing offenders through the introduction to prison. That being said, the delusion that inmates are being watched constantly could possibly considered to be a move toward the punishment of the mind in a way that the prisoner knows that they are on watch 24/7, perhaps resulting in amiable health issues, an example of this is paranoia. Furthermore, notions that were put forward throughout the Enlightenment era have been developed and are the reason as to why there is a huge emphasis on alternative punishment kinda of corporal todays association.Throughout the Enlightenment era, the work that was proposed by many theorists has had a huge impact on punishment that is seen in more groundbreaking societies. When looking back to the traditional way in terms of punishment and how much of an emphasis there was on the punishment of the body in the public eye and comparing it to the alternative ideas o f punishment that had appeared throughout the Enlightenment period, this has introduced brand new and more effective notions which understand from punishments of the body to the punishment of the mind. In addition, this is evident in todays societies with the increase in the number of offenders who are being sentenced to prison, illustrating the shift where or else of forcing pain on the body, it is instead inflicted on the mind through not only restricting an inmates rights and independence but also restricting them from coming into trace with the public. This idea is visible in conclave with other forms of punishment that are exercised inner(a) and outside of the prison. One of the many alternative ideas that are exercised in the prison is that of solitary confinement which is also known as an individual who is prohibited from coming in to contact with anyone outside apart from prison staff where one may be prone to conditions where they are sent to windowless or close-confi ned rooms. In addition, exercising this make by depriving an inmate of contact with the outside world can potentially create genial health issues for this individual such as randy damage, a breakdown in terms of language development and in a more severe case, it could possibly make an inmate hallucinate or vex deluded. Solitary confinement is one of many practices which con face that the change from the public corporal punishment to the mind in the private sphere is evident in contemporary societies.One can debate that the movement from public corporal punishment to an individuals mental thinking in a private space has not changed and this can be seen in many modern societies where there are many faults in the system of punishment. Though the system is encouraged to punish an offender in a non-violent way, there are a lot of injurys present in todays society that negate the idea of punishment of ones mind in a private location. This can be seen in the way in which the environm ent that an offender is sentenced to. In addition, whilst an offender is sent to prison, it may not be seen as non-violent, however, the conditions inside that environment may be the exact opposite. An example of this can be seen in movies like Shawshank Redemption, when the offender (Andy Dufresne) became subject to violence and many other horrific acts, not to mention that he also became a hind end for other prisoners which, he then had no choice but to fulfil himself in order to survive. This goes to instal that the environment in which an individual is exposed to in the prison, can force those who are non-violent to turn to violence in an attempt to defend oneself from the chance of being attacked. Therefore transforming a non-violent offender into a violent one (Gilligan, 2001). Moreover, in terms of what has been said, the real interrogatory that we must(prenominal) ask ourselves is what is actually counted as punishment? Is it the sentence that has been precondition or is it also the conditions that one receives inside the prison?Another defect that is seen in terms of the shift from punishment of the body to the mind is shown where, although nifty punishment is known as pain forced on to the body through violent means, there is another way in which punishment may not be necessarily considered to be corporal but it is, it is just that the way in which they are dealt with are done through non-violent means. One example can be seen where an offender is designated a onerous labour job (as seen in the 1800s and nevertheless present today) for example, the treadwheel, grammatical construction roads and stone breaking where although it may not be seen as physical pain inflicted to the body, as time goes on, it will show as the inmate gets older and their body slowly starts to break down (Scarre, 2003). A second example is seen where prisoners are also deprived of the necessities in feel such as a clean environments and good nutrition. Although, th is may not be seen as direct pain to the body, it does affect the individual in a way that eating choices and aliment preferences and food intake are limited whilst in prison. Not only does this limit the prisoner of the health and nutrition that is required to help them make it through the day but also it could expose the prisoner to problems in terms of the kitchen staff such as the concern of cooking standards, hygiene and illnesses. As mentioned by smith (2002), majority of women that she had interviewed in prison were concerned about the effects that the food would have on them such as weight loss and gain, diarrhoea, emetic and constipation. Again, this may not be considered as corporal punishment, but it thus far punishes the body in terms of health. Furthermore, we again have to question whether the sentence is the punishment or is it also the conditions that come with it.It can also be argued that there has not been a complete shift in terms of the punishment in the eye of the public to the private sphere. When looking at the history of punishment and comparing it to contemporary society, punishment is nowhere well(p) is public as it used to be. However, punishment is still visible to the public. An example of this is seen in community of stakes serving role players where they serve their sentence in the community rather than in the prison ( department of Corrections, 2015). This means that an individual is exposed to the community, well-read that the public know that they are on probation and they are not doing it voluntarily. This is seen in New Zealand where community service workers are put in front of public places. It is easy to distinguish community service workers from your average worker as they usually work in groups doing hard labour jobs but the main thing that gives it away is the clothing, usually you will notice that there is a strip on the back of their clothing mentioning community service.Another flaw that contradicts the i dea that punishment has moved from bodily punishments in front of the public eye to the private sphere is seen within the flirt system. What is meant by that is, the courts are the main place in which sentences are usually given to criminals and also a location where the community are welcome to get the sentence that is being given to a criminal. Moreover, this is the case in New Zealand where the public are able to, in a sense, brook insofar by observing the punishment that is handed to an offender, bearing in mind that there are some cases in which the public are unable to view (Courts of New Zealand, 2015). In saying that, this just goes to show that in terms of punishment, although it may not physical, public humiliation is still present in modern societies but to an extent when comparing it to the eighteenth century.Social media and the media in general allows for punishment to become visible by allowing the public to gain access to it by using several mediums such as the ra dio, the internet through live streaming or looking at online news articles, television programmes, such as the crime investigating channel or by simply watching the news. Not only does this illustrate that punishment is accessible to members of the public but it also allows them to become more knowledgeable by being exposed to crime and punishment through what is used by individuals daily. Although the public may not observe the punishment that is given to an offender, they are given the opportunity to get up to date through news reports, articles or even if they are lucky, through a photo which is then taken of the individual receiving the sentence. In addition, we must keep in mind that reporters look in particular for crimes that are more gruesome or crimes that they know would be of public interest so they are more likely to exaggerate the crimes to get more of a following from the public (Bradley Walters, 2011). Furthermore, these examples show that punishment in the public eye is still present in todays society but not as bad as it was in the past. However, when looking at this example in particular, it shows the power that reporters have over people not only in terms of making punishment and crime visible to the public but also the way in which they can distort the crimes knowing that they will keep the public interested.In conclusion, this taste has shown how the enlightenment era has had a major impact on the practices that are seen in terms of punishment today. In addition, it has also looked at how punishment has altered over time and periods where the intensity of punishment has lessened by shifting from the traditional corporal punishment and public humiliation to a more modern shift of punishment of the mind and in the private sphere looking more at taking away an offenders rights and freedom. However, even though the shift of bodily punishments in front of a general public setting to the punishment of an individuals mind in more of a privat e location is present in modern societies, it is still seen in some cases that this may not be admittedly as mentioned in the examples given above. The question that still stands in my analyze is in todays society, has there really been a shift from public capital punishment to private punishment of the mind.BibliographyBradley, T., Walters, R. (2011). Introduction to criminological thought. Auckland Pearson.Classen, A. (2012). Crime and Violence in the Middle Ages The Cases of Heinrich der Glicheares Reinhard Fuchs and Wernher der Gartaneres Helmbricht. In A. Classen, C. Scarborough (Eds.), Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages and Early redbrick Age (pp. 131-158). Berlin, Germany Walter de Gruyter.Courts of New Zealand. (2015, April 03). The grapheme of the Courts. 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