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Disciplinary Society
Disciplinary society is a social theory developed by Michel Foucault that refers to a society that is controlled by observation and discipline. Foucault defines discipline as "a modality for power's exercise, comprising a whole set of instruments, techniques, procedures, levels of application, targets; it is a 'physics' or an 'anatomy' of power, a technology" (1). Power, he says, is everywhere, and it functions in positive, pervasive, and insidius ways.(2)  In other words, modern society has created a situation where people regulate their own behavior because they are constantly fearful of being observed, and consequently punished, for breaking the rules.

How the Theory Developed
Foucault built upon the works of other sociological theorists including Nietzche, Weber, and Durkheim. Both Weber and Foucault attempted to answer the fundamental question of, “what are the techniques by which man has subjected himself to the rational discipline of applied human sciences.”.(3) To answer this question, Foucault primarily focused on governmentalities, which he describes as a wide range of control techniques used by institutions in society. He observes that governmentality has dramatically increased in modern times. The term disciplinary society can be applied to schools, hospitals, prisons, economics, and many other institutions in society. Foucault states that the goal of Disciplinary society is to create complacent people that will function in institutions of modern society. Foucault refered to this as the creation of “docile bodies.” In order to be effective, the government must constantly observe and record the people they control, as well as discipline those who violate the norms. They must do this without using excessive force and through careful observation. The purpose of this form of punishment is that it appears fair to the general population, and it is unlikely to incite people to resist or rebel against those in power.  

Discipline and Punish
In his book Discipline and Punish, Foucault discusses the origins for the basis of modern disciplinary society that occurred in the prison system between 1757 and the 1830’s. During this period of reform, there was a transition in the ways in which prisoners were punished. He describes the evolution of punishment from public torture and execution, to more humane forms of punishment based on rules. The purpose of this transition is to make behavior reform the goal of punishment, rather than revenge.(4)

In, Discipline and Punish, Foucault argues that this new form of punishment and control, while seemingly less cruel, was not motivated by humanitarian reasons. He argues that it actually increases the disciplinary power of the law, and that it is much more effective and insidious than previous methods.  He also argues that the new forms of punishment in prisons, eventually developed into a model for the control of an entire society. He makes it clear that these forms of control were not created by a single organization, they were developed for various purposes by various institutions, and eventually evolved the modern system of disciplinary power.  ] Foucault states that disciplinary society is based on three methods of societal control, hierarchical observation, normalizing judgment, and examinations.. Hierarchical observation refers to the ability of leaders to oversee everything they control. Foucault likened hierarchical control to a style of prison called the Panopticon, developed by an English philosopher named Jeremy Bentham at the end of the eighteenth century. Foucault describes the effect of the Panopticon, “Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power.” The Panopticon prison design allowed a single prison guard, stationed in a tower, to see into each individual prison cell without the prisoners being able to see them. Like the Panopticon, Hierarchical observation forces people to behave as they are supposed to even when they are not being watched. They behave because they are constantly fearful of being watched and punished for disobeying the rules.  The second method of societal control Foucault describes is normalizing judgement. Normalizing judgment is the process by which norms are set by those in power, and people who violate the norms of society are punished. Individuals in power decide what the norms are as well as how to punish those who violate the norms. The final form of control described by Foucault is examinations. Examinations are a combination of hierarchical observation and normalizing judgement. Foucault describes the function of examinations as "the deployment of force and the establishment of truth" (5) Examinations are used by those in power to assess whether or not people are meeting the expectations set by those in power and forces them to act in order to meet the expections.

Criticisms of Foucault
Michel Foucault’s theory of disciplinary society is very important to understanding how many institutions of control function in modern society. He reveals many techniques of control and discipline that often go unnoticed. For this reason, some people criticize Foucault for making these institutions seem invincible. He describes these methods of control as so all-encompassing and powerful that it discourages people from resisting the disciplinary society. He makes resistance to the disciplinary system seem all but impossible.(6) There has also been some criticism of Foucault for not giving enough credit to theorists that came before him, specifically Durkheim. Until recently, there has not been much work comparing the ideas of Foucault and Durkheim, despite the fact that there are many similarities. Similarities in their work include the belief that punishment is a functional tool for controlling conduct both sociologists discussed the transition in forms of punishment, as well as the dissappearence of vengeance as a motive for punishment in modern society.(7)

Importance of Foucault
Foucault’s work on disciplinary society has left an indelible mark on modern sociological theory. His work is relevant to many fields other than sociology, including psychology, criminology, politics, and education. He is one of the most influential modern sociological theorists and is widely accepted in western society. Foucault’s work on disciplinary society complements and adds to Weber’s work on bureaucracy and legal-domination of society.(3) His contributions have secured him an important place in the field of sociological theory.

Weblinks

 * 1) http://www.answers.com/topic/discipline-and-punish
 * 2) http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/foucault/#3.3
 * 3) http://foucault.info/documents/disciplineAndPunish/foucault.disciplineAndPunish.panOpticism.html
 * 4) http://www.foucault.info/documents/