Power and Subjectivity

In this week’s readings, we observe Foucault’s discussion of the legal treatment of criminals, and how much their psychological problems account for their illegal acts.
In “Birth of the Asylum”, from Madness and Civilization, Foucault describes the shift from a punitive system for the mentally disturbed, to a system which is more bent on curing such individuals. Taking as an example Tuke’s “York Retreat”, an asylum for the mentally ill, he describes a change from a prison-like environment to a more therapeutic environment. This change is given by progress in medicine and psychology, which began to interpret criminals and the mentally disturbed as having a medical condition, rather than considering them evil people.
There is both a religious and a secular interpretation of this change. The religious one, in Tuke’s contest, relies on the idea of the existence of fundamental goodness in each individual. We are all moral human beings, and the acts of transgression committed by some are only part of our superficial façade.
Pinel adopts a secular approach to such practice. He believes that religion does not comprehend all the wisdom and science necessary for the cure of the mad. He too believes that man is essentially good, and virtuous.
Both approaches are the result of a process of “subjectification”, in which subjects are no longer judged as criminals, but are individualized in the light of their own personal psychological condition.
In the First Lecture of Abnormal: Lectures at the Collège de France, he explores the changes caused by this humanistic movement in the legal sphere. He describes the relation between punishment and proof, the evidence that a crime had occurred. The more certain and detailed the evidence, the greater the punishment. There is also a correspondence between the power of the evidence, and the authority of the person presenting such proof of the crime. The humanistic approach towards the criminal’s mental condition begins to really influence legal affairs by the 19th century.
The role of psychiatric evaluation of the criminal becomes more and more important, stating whether or not his act can be considered an offense for which he is legally responsible. By analyzing the subject, the psychiatrist defines whether or not he has a condition that causes him to be more likely to commit certain acts of transgression. This study allows to find ways of correcting his condition. Punishment shifts to the profession of curing. The penal system takes the responsibility of isolating mentally disturbed people, and of “normalizing” them.
The legal system as intended in this reading is also influenced by the idea that all men have are good, even though it is less evident in some. Through the curing process described by Foucault, the mentally ill have a chance to find their moral selves, and psychiatry serves to define what factors have brought them to become “less good.” Through a therapeutic process, the subject can establish a connection with his inner goodness, and determine the life experiences that caused him to be the way he is.