Feigned punishment could deter crime without real suffering

Evidence

For example, a building could be constructed resembling the panopticon from the outside; occasional screams, not of prisoners, but of people hired specifically for that purpose, could be heard from within. While the others would think that the offenders were being punished for their deeds, in truth, nobody at all would really be suffering punishment. A ‘good of the second order’ could then be produced without requiring any ‘evil of the first order’. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 28

Categorization

• STORYSTEM: The fake prison with hired screamers is a ready-made dystopian premise — a penal system that is entirely theater. Could be developed as either a critique or a bizarre utopia.
• QUESTION: Did any historical society seriously attempt a feigned-punishment scheme, or is this purely Bentham’s thought experiment?
• XREF: connects to: Apparent punishment outweighs real suffering whenever the innocent outnumber the punished. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 14; Punishment is designed to maximize apparent suffering while minimizing real pain. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 15; Staged ceremony can substitute for added real punishment to deter others. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 16 (+16 more)

Related

• Apparent punishment outweighs real suffering whenever the innocent outnumber the punished. (similarity 0.87)
• Staged ceremony can substitute for added real punishment to deter others. (similarity 0.87)
• Punishment is designed to maximize apparent suffering while minimizing real pain. (similarity 0.86)
• Penalty operates through the idea of pain, not pain itself (similarity 0.84)
• Punishment deters when its expected cost merely exceeds crime’s benefit (similarity 0.83)
• The real target of punishment is potential offenders, not the convict himself (similarity 0.80)
• Punishment’s deterrent power migrated from visible spectacle to certainty of apprehension (similarity 0.79)
• Punishment’s severity must aim at future prevention, not past harm (similarity 0.79)
• Raising penalty severity theoretically deters crime but complex systems prevent it (similarity 0.79)
• Certainty, not severity, makes punishment deter because it fixes crime-punishment links in minds (similarity 0.79)
• Criminal punishment patterns lack deterrence or retributive logic (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Certainty, not severity, makes punishment deter because it fixes crime-punishment links in minds #qualifies (0.85) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 157
• The real target of punishment is potential offenders, not the convict himself #complicates (0.85) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 177
• Punishment deters when its expected cost merely exceeds crime’s benefit #contradicts (0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 154
• Punishment scales with the unfairness of the wrongdoing, not with deterrence needs #qualifies (0.78) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 103
• Objective criminal law also protects the criminal from excess punishment #expands (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 431
• Punishment’s severity must aim at future prevention, not past harm #responds-to (0.72) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 152