Minor offenders were judged more vicious than major criminals by prison directors
Evidence
‘The minor offenders are generally the most vicious … Among the criminals, one meets many men who have given in to the violence of their passions and to the needs of a large family.’ ‘The behaviour of criminals is much better than that of the minor offenders; the former are more submissive, harder-working than the latter, who, in general, are pickpockets, debauchees and idlers.’ Hence the idea that punitive rigour must not be in direct proportion to the penal importance of the offence – nor determined once and for all. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 375
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Women who are punished are seen as more aberrant and threatening than men — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 174; Penal reform shifted punishment from the act to the offender’s character — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 160; The prison sorts prisoners by hidden dangerousness revealed in conduct — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 202
Related
- Penal reform shifted punishment from the act to the offender’s character (similarity 0.80)
- Women have been punished more through psychiatric institutions than prisons (similarity 0.79)
- Penitentiary technique judges the criminal’s affinity with crime, not the act itself (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Women who are punished are seen as more aberrant and threatening than men
#expands(0.82) — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 174 - Penal reform shifted punishment from the act to the offender’s character
#complicates(0.75) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 160 - The prison sorts prisoners by hidden dangerousness revealed in conduct
#expands(0.72) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 202