The panopticon has been important in regulating human behaviour and controlling shifts in power, both as a physical structure such as a prison, and as a concept. Devised by Jeremy Bentham in 1785, it was used long before this time as a means of keeping groups or individuals under surveillance, including both examples of the Roman Colosseum and the public spectacle of death and punishment as well as a means of determining the health and well-being of those suffering from the plague (Foucault, 1977).
Throughout the ages, the panopticon has been seen as a tool used in order to discipline the masses, and keep them under somewhat control. An example of religious schools is used, demonstrating how the school administration can keep the families acting in a manner they see as appropriate, simply by having the means to investigate those they believe may be acting outside their ideal way of living (Foucault, 1977, p. 212).
The idea of a panopticon as a tool to invade the privacy of the people in a dystopian world is a key concept in the novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (Orwell, 1948). The use of technology to discipline society, while they are unsure whether they are being watched and must therefore act accordingly, is used not only in Orwell's novel but also in modern day society, with the threat of CCTV recording us continually, and prompting us to behave even though we do not know if anyone is really monitoring the footage.
References
Foucault, 1977, Discipline and Punish
Orwell, 1948, Nineteen Eighty-Four
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