Reformers reframed punishment as protection rather than vengeance
Evidence
‘Society does not see in the punishments it inflicts the barbarous pleasure of making a human being surffer; it sees it as a necessary precaution to prevent similar crimes, to protect society from the evils with which murder threatens it’ (Barnave, 9). — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 489
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the emerging rationale that decoupled punishment from the sovereign’s wrath and recast it as social defense.
- XREF: connects to: Reformers shifted punishment’s aim from expiation to prevention — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 204; The rise of the prison institutionalized the power to punish — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 209; Punishment shifted from sovereign vengeance to ensuring no crime goes unpunished (+9 more)
Related
- Reform-era punishment was future-directed, aimed at prevention (similarity 0.92)
- Reformers shifted punishment’s aim from expiation to prevention (similarity 0.90)
- Penal reform sought not less punishment but more universal, deeper social control (similarity 0.89)
- Reform punishment shifted example from sovereign display to economic obstacle (similarity 0.87)
- Punishment’s severity must aim at future prevention, not past harm (similarity 0.87)
- Reformers sought to redistribute punitive power throughout the whole social body. (similarity 0.86)
- Penal reform succeeded by managing illegalities differentially, not eliminating them (similarity 0.85)
- Penal reform aimed to increase punishment’s effects while lowering its costs. (similarity 0.85)
- Penal reform arose from a policy shift, not new humanitarian feeling (similarity 0.84)
- Modern universal imprisonment was not the reformers’ original design (similarity 0.84)
- Reformers criticized the economy of power, not its cruelty. (similarity 0.83)
- The rise of the prison institutionalized the power to punish (similarity 0.83)
- Reformers saw the convict as useful social property rather than waste (similarity 0.82)
- Penal reform shifted punishment from the act to the offender’s character (similarity 0.82)
- The respectful ‘humanity’ of the criminal became the target of correction (similarity 0.81)
Broader Connections
- Reformers shifted punishment’s aim from expiation to prevention
#corroborates(0.95) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 204 - Punishment shifted from sovereign vengeance to ensuring no crime goes unpunished
#corroborates(0.85) - Reform-era punishment was future-directed, aimed at prevention
#expands(0.85) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 204 - Penal reform sought not less punishment but more universal, deeper social control
#complicates(0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 136 - The rise of the prison institutionalized the power to punish
#expands(0.75) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 209