French philosopher, Michel Foucault’s book, Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison, is a radical reevaluation of our more mainstream assumptions regarding the role of penal institutions and their foundational purposes in advanced, sophisticated societies, where freedom and liberty are cherished. However, as corrections continue to undergo numerous reforms, scholars and policymakers might do well to revisit, critically reflect upon, and reexamine the socio-historical origins of the prison and its close relationship to power structures operating in the wider society. The ideological aims underpinning penal practice can be either myopically focused or quite diverse as they reflect the varying goals of retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. At the time of his death in 1984, he held a chair at Frances most prestigious institutions, the College de France.For hundreds of years, criminologists and penologists alike have investigated the various functions and designs, as well as the policies and practices that regulate the effectiveness of prisons as correctional institutions. He lecturerd in universities throughout the world served as director at the Institut Francais in Hamburg, Germany and at the Institut de Philosophi at the Faculte des Lettres in the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France and wrote frequently for French newspapers and reviews. About the Author Michel Foucault was born in Poitiers, France, in 1926.

In this indispensable work, a brilliant thinker suggests that such vaunted reforms as the abolition of torture and the emergence of the modern penitentiary have merely shifted the focus of punishment from the prisoners body to his soul. Book Synopsis A brilliant work from the most influential philosopher since Sartre. About the Book In this brilliant work, the most influential philosopher since Sartre suggests that such vaunted reforms as the abolition of torture and the emergence of the modern penitentiary have merely shifted the focus of punishment from the prisoners body to his soul.

Foucault discipline