Drug Courts as the Modern Panopticon

Drug Courts as the Modern Panopticon by Corey Colyer

ABSTRACT:

"Contemporary drug courts merge the therapeutic resources of the human services sector with the coercive power of the State. While these programs help drug using offenders enter treatment for drug addiction, they also serve in a control capacity. Drug courts are disciplinary institutions; the modern day equivalent of Bentham’s Panopticon. By sharing information across agency boundaries, subjecting program participants to frequent examinations, and reinforcing self-regulatory behavior, drug courts embody the disciplinary ideal. This paper draws on two years of field research in a drug court program to outline the ways in which Drug Courts have become the modern Panopticon."