Punishment’s primary audience is the non-criminal public, not the offender

Evidence

The penalty must have its most intense effects on those who have not committed the crime; to carry the argument to its limit, if one could be sure that the criminal could not repeat the crime, it would be enough to make others believe that he had been punished. There is a centrifugal intensification of effects, which leads to the paradox that in the calculation of penalties the least important element is still the criminal (unless he is likely to repeat the offence). — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 156

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Public punishment was abolished because it inflamed crowds rather than teaching them. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 397; Public execution functions as a political ritual of power, not mere justice. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 101; Pre-prison punishment aimed at spectators as public spectacle, not at reforming the punished. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 102 (+3 more)

Related

• Public punishment was abolished because it inflamed crowds rather than teaching them. (similarity 0.86)
• Public executions produced disorder rather than deterrence for the crowd (similarity 0.85)
• Public executions failed to frighten the people and so reformers demanded their abolition (similarity 0.82)
• Public execution functions as a political ritual of power, not mere justice. (similarity 0.81)
• Pre-prison punishment aimed at spectators as public spectacle, not at reforming the punished. (similarity 0.81)
• The real target of punishment is potential offenders, not the convict himself (similarity 0.80)
• Public executions required a witnessing crowd to constitute their meaning and effect (similarity 0.79)
• Punishment deters when its expected cost merely exceeds crime’s benefit (similarity 0.79)
• Public execution reactivates injured sovereign power rather than restoring justice. (similarity 0.79)
• Punishment’s severity must aim at future prevention, not past harm (similarity 0.79)
• Spectacular public punishment reaches only a limited audience and loses deterrent power (similarity 0.78)
• The crowd functioned simultaneously as audience and participant in royal punishment (similarity 0.78)
• Reformers designed punishment as a public didactic spectacle for all citizens (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Pre-prison punishment aimed at spectators as public spectacle, not at reforming the punished. #corroborates (0.95) — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 102
• The real target of punishment is potential offenders, not the convict himself #expands (0.92) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 177
• Public executions produced disorder rather than deterrence for the crowd #complicates (0.78) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 118
• Feigned punishment could deter crime without real suffering #corroborates (0.75) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 28