Carceral
Related to incarceration, or jails and prisons.
Crime of Blood
Violent crimes against bodies, especially murder.
Crime of Fraud
Crime against property, especially theft.
Delinquent
In contrast to the “offender” who is identified by a specific offense, the delinquent is a type of person. A delinquent hasn’t just committed a bad crime, but has a bad personality.
Discipline
Training and controlling the body to behave in a certain way.
Generalization
The process of becoming more general, or applying to everyone instead of just someone. Foucault talks about the generalization of discipline, so it’s not just prisoners, but everyone, who is disciplined.
Ideality
Related to ideas, or what one can imagine in their minds. Foucault talks about the ideality of punishment, or the representation people make to themselves in their minds about how terrible punishment would be.
Lateral Effects
The “side effects” of something, for instance the ways in which punishment doesn’t just affect the one receiving punishment, but also warns bystanders not to commit a crime themselves.
Negative Function
When the effect of something is primarily destructive, such as the negative function of punishment in repressing, or destroying, bad behaviors. Here, negative does not mean “bad,” but getting rid of something (to negate something).
Offender
In contrast to a delinquent, someone who is identified through their offense, or bad action, rather than through their personality, or being a bad person.
Panopticism
A condition of universal surveillance, where everyone is seen or feels like they could be watched at any moment.
Pathology
Something that is considered diseased or abnormal, such as the delinquent, who is a person who breaks social norms.
Penal
Related to punishment as prescribed by the law.
Positive Function
When the effect of something is primarily productive, such as the positive function of punishment in producing good citizens.
Regicide
Assassination of the king.
Scientifico-legal complex
The entangling of scientific and legal institutions and discourses, for instance when the court calls medical experts to ascertain the sanity of a criminal.
Sovereign Power
A kind of power that is centralized in and monopolized by the sovereign, or king, of a society. The king is in charge of everything.
Spectacle
A public display meant to attract lots of attention. Foucault talks about torture as a spectacle.
Surveillance
Observation of someone or something. Foucault argues that people today feel they are under constant surveillance, or like they could be watched at any moment.
Technique
A way of doing something. Foucault talks about punitive techniques, or different ways of administering punishment.
