1. Enlightment: Myths and Truths By: S. Scott & Paul A. BourneThe utilitarian perspective which emerged in the eighteenth century, in what is known as the period of enlightenment, advocated reforms in the penal system of European societies and thus reconsideration of the types of punishment. In keeping with his utilitarian views, Italian social thinker, Cesare Beccaria called for fair and certain punishment to deter crime. To deter people from committing crime, Beccaria believed that crime and punishment must be proportional. This vision was embraced by Frances pre-revolutionary constituent assembly in its declaration of the rights of man. Similarly a prohibition against the cruel and unusual punishment was incorporated in the eighth amendment of the United States of America constitution. Beccaria writings have been credited as the basis for the elimination of torture and severe punishment in the nineteenth century. His classical criminology is reflected in the practice of incarcerating criminals and structuring prison sentences to fit the severity of crimes. This essay will examine myths and truths about the enlightenment period, and will allow the readers to formulate their perspective on the matter. A number of other criminologists and sociologists have been instrumental in the account of the civilization of punishment. Important to this account are the French sociologists Emile Durkheim and Michel Foucault. Both Durkheims thesis of Social

2. Solidarity and Foucaults perspective on punishment lends extensively to the understanding of the evolution of punishment. The civilization of punishment can be accounted for by the civilizing process. N Elias (1984) suggests that the types of punishment shifted as the types of social rule shifted. There was a significant change from more religious to secular states. In these religious states, leadership tended to be of an authoritative nature. This was essentially rule by men; the main aims of punishment in these societies were to communicate dominance and superiority.As such in thesesocieties, punishment was excessive and brutal and to a large degree was focused on the defiling the inferior human body (as in the case of the African slave during Plantation slavery). However as societies became more democratic and rule shifted from that of men to that of law, societys leaders or governments became more accountable and indirectly punishment became more humane. It follows that if societies are to call themselves civilized they can no longer participate in violent means of punishment no matter how great the crime. This is as violence is seen as the antithesis of civility and civilization. Elias further argues that the civilizing process also resulted in a change in sensibilities. He defines sensibilities as An outcome of the civilizing process was a change in sensitivities, particularly a change in sensibilities that resulted in less violence in societies and more civil conduct. By the late eighteenth century public punishment were starting to die out. Punishment was increasingly hidden. People were executed behind closed doors using swifter methods (such as the guillotine or hanging) and many people were locked away in prisons. Here they were subjected to a regime involving a strict time table of work, sleep, education and so on. 3. Michel Foucault (1979) argues that these changes involved a fundamental shift in the nature of punishment. In the early eighteenth century punishment focused on the body, it involved the infliction of pain as a way of making the offender suffer for his crimes and as a way of discouraging others. By the late eighteenth and nineteenth century this had changed. It was no longer the body that was the main focus of punishment, but the soul. The punishment consisted of a loss of rights- particularly the right of libertyrather the suffering of pain. The certainty of being caught acted as deterrent rather than public humiliation of executed or being placed in the stocks. Furthermore, the intention was to reform the offender rather than simply to make him suffer. Foucault argues that this was due to a new concern in European culture with a sense of responsibility for such social problems and a new work ethic. He argues that there was no clear cut break from the two forms of punishment (this was as execution continued to be used) but he argues that there was a clear shift from one approach to another. Another aspect that influenced the civilization of punishment was the subtle change in what was being judged. Foucault proposes that in the earlier period people were judged for what they had done. By the late period they were judged for the type of people they were. The motivation behind the crime begun to be taken into account because of what it revealed about the offender. The punishment used varied according to the motivation. Foucault says The question is no longer simply: Has the act been established and is it punishable? But also: What is this act of violence or this murder? To what level or to what field of reality does it belong? Is it a phantasy, a psychotic reaction, a delusional episode, a perverse action? It is no longer simply: Who committed it? But: How can we assign the causal process that produced it? 4. Where did it originate in the author himself? Instinct, unconscious, environment, heredity? (Foucault,1991,p.19)An excellent example of the civilization of punishment can be observed in the Caribbean societies. Under slavery, rule was concentrated in the hands of the white minority and was exercised through whatever means necessary so as to keep with the sentiment of white superiority. Though seen as ironic today, these white slave owners were largely Christian and based most of their rules on religion. The bible was even used as a means of justifying white superiority and non white inferiority. As such, a great number of that which was classified as criminal in the Caribbean slave society was those acts that disobeyed the white man and as a result the bible. It follows that under slavery the punishment of the non white man was immensely brutal and public. Publicity was necessary to communicate white dominance and superiority. Floggings, mutilation of the body, hangings and stake burning were the primary choices of punishment. The slave was not only viewed as inferior but also non human and the mere property of the white man. In summary, r with the abolition of slavery and the aid of humanitarian movements slave punishment became more humane. Slaves begun to be seen as humans and as a result it became necessary to treat them as such. There became a greater use of the already present prison system as a means of punishing the disobedient slave. Specifically in Jamaica after 1834 (the emancipation of slaves), there was heavy reliance on prisons and workhouses as a means of punishing the newly freed population. Public or private hangings, mutilation and floggings of slaves were eventually abandoned (not all the same time) in the pursuit of what may be regarded as more civilized and humane ways of punishing the criminal slave.