Societies have long employed various strategies to regulate individual bodies deemed threatening or deviant. From historical practices of torture and marking to modern forms of incarceration, the intersection of power, punishment, and identification underscores the complexities inherent in the management of social order. As discussed in chapter fourteen of the book Body Studies: An Introduction by Margo DeMello (2014), societies globally have commonly marked criminal bodies in some manner in order to forever identify and stigmatize these bodies as deviant, and these markings have been acquired through practices like tattooing, torturing, branding, and capital punishment. Thracians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans were the first known societies
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In summary, chapter fourteen of the text further identifies how socially deemed dangerous and deviant bodies have been tormented, marked, and confined throughout history. According to the author, torture is defined as the use of pain to cause an individual to submit to their tormentor (DeMello 2014:251). To further expand, torture has long been used by state and religious authorities to gather incriminating information from criminals and war prisoners (DeMello 2014:252). Rape, for example, has been a frequent torture method used to humiliate and control the victim; as a result, wartime rape often occurred stemming from male armies set on destroying social and family bonds (DeMello 2014:253). In modern times, capital punishment is one method of torture that has legally persisted in some societies, although it is largely rare and controversial in most cultures as it is reserved for the most heinous crimes in society (DeMello …show more content…
As DeMello (2014) discusses, although modern society is considered to be more humane as acts of physical and legal torture have long been outlawed, psychologist Stanley Milgram's research highlights the remnants of torture that seemingly ordinary people can engage in. To further expand, during Milgram's studies, participants were under the idea that they were administering electrical shocks to other subjects labeled as the test takers that increased in voltage each time they gave a wrong answer (DeMello 2014:253). The results of these studies found that 65% of participants continued to administer the shocks until the end of the experiment, even though they were under the impression they could have killed the test-taking subject with the intense voltage (DeMello 2014:253). In contrast, only 35% of participants were found to leave the experiments halfway through (DeMello 2014:253). As DeMello (2014) describes, Milgram's research emphasizes the power of authority intimidation. Beyond this I believe, Milgram's results underscore the extensive influence of power dynamics as it demonstrates the extent of the control perceived authority can have on individuals within the general public and the almost innate torture drives seen throughout
In summary, chapter fourteen of the text further identifies how socially deemed dangerous and deviant bodies have been tormented, marked, and confined throughout history. According to the author, torture is defined as the use of pain to cause an individual to submit to their tormentor (DeMello 2014:251). To further expand, torture has long been used by state and religious authorities to gather incriminating information from criminals and war prisoners (DeMello 2014:252). Rape, for example, has been a frequent torture method used to humiliate and control the victim; as a result, wartime rape often occurred stemming from male armies set on destroying social and family bonds (DeMello 2014:253). In modern times, capital punishment is one method of torture that has legally persisted in some societies, although it is largely rare and controversial in most cultures as it is reserved for the most heinous crimes in society (DeMello …show more content…
As DeMello (2014) discusses, although modern society is considered to be more humane as acts of physical and legal torture have long been outlawed, psychologist Stanley Milgram's research highlights the remnants of torture that seemingly ordinary people can engage in. To further expand, during Milgram's studies, participants were under the idea that they were administering electrical shocks to other subjects labeled as the test takers that increased in voltage each time they gave a wrong answer (DeMello 2014:253). The results of these studies found that 65% of participants continued to administer the shocks until the end of the experiment, even though they were under the impression they could have killed the test-taking subject with the intense voltage (DeMello 2014:253). In contrast, only 35% of participants were found to leave the experiments halfway through (DeMello 2014:253). As DeMello (2014) describes, Milgram's research emphasizes the power of authority intimidation. Beyond this I believe, Milgram's results underscore the extensive influence of power dynamics as it demonstrates the extent of the control perceived authority can have on individuals within the general public and the almost innate torture drives seen throughout