Foundational Concepts

Panopticon

pan-OP-tih-kon

Citation Formats

General Reference

Crime and Justice Atlas. "Panopticon." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-crime.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/panopticon.

APA Style

Crime and Justice Atlas. (n.d.). Panopticon. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-crime.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/panopticon

BibTeX

@misc{crimeandjusticeatlas-panopticon,
  author = {Crime and Justice Atlas},
  title = {Panopticon},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-crime.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/panopticon},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

A circular prison design conceived by Jeremy Bentham, in which a central watchtower allows a small staff to observe many prisoners who cannot tell whether they are being watched at any given moment, intended as an efficient model of institutional discipline and control.

Facts

Domainthe subject's own account

Penology and corrections 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Informed By

Jeremy Bentham

Source Wikipedia: Jeremy Bentham

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Jeremy Bentham

Abortive prison project and the Panopticon section

Quote, Abortive prison project and the Panopticon section

Allow me to construct a prison on this model, I will be the gaoler.

View the Source

1. Wikipedia: Jeremy Bentham

Informed By: Jeremy BenthamView the Source

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