In the anime series Psycho Pass, which takes place in the year is 2112, Japan is supposedly the only “civilized society” left standing. The citizens live under a system known as the “Sibyl System”, which maintains public order by preventing crime before it can occur, therefore maintaining the guise of a “utopian society”. This is done through the use of public sensors which are capable of scanning people and measuring their “psycho pass”, which consists of two components, a “hue”, which denotes stress levels with dark colors standing for high stress and light colors standing for low stress, and a “crime coefficient” a numeric value showing the likelihood of a person to commit a crime. Anyone whose psycho pass is abnormally high, even if they
…show more content…
It is clear that the high levels of deindividuation and labeling present in the society of Psycho Pass have detrimental effects on the public and foster the conditions necessary to lead to deviance. The deviance of both one of the protagonists, Kougami, and the main antagonist Makishima, are a direct result of these circumstances.
Kougami is a former police inspector who was demoted to the role of “Enforcer” due to his crime coefficient rising to levels considered too dangerous to keep him on the job after becoming obsessed over the case of the murder of his colleague. The enforcers are latent criminals who are allowed to work with inspectors to catch criminals based on the theory that they know how criminals think. Due to their second class status, the enforcers are treated with a level of dehumanization, which although not very severe still plays into labelling theory. When the enforcers are first introduced, one of the inspectors, Ginoza, says to a newly recruited inspector “Don 't think that the guys you 're about to meet are human like us. Their Crime Coefficients all exceed a specific value. They are people of bankrupt character. Normally, they would be …show more content…
Makishima is criminally asymptomatic, meaning he cannot be measured by the Sibyl System. He can control his crime coefficient at will, allowing him to commit deviant acts as much as he pleases without fearing the repercussions. While the majority of civilians face deindividualization in that their identities are virtually reduced to numbers, Makishima experiences an even more severe level of deindividualization by not being measured by the system. In the episode 0109 Fruit of Paradise, Kogami theorizes that being "unrecognized" by Sibyl left Makishima feeling like a non-entity, which may have started him down the path of criminality in his single-minded goal of taking down the Sibyl System. It is not surprising that not being recognized by a system that dictates people’s lives down to the profession they go into and their ideal marriage partner caused Makishima significant distress. Makishima rejects the Sibyl System because be believes it strips people of the ability to truly live and determine the direction of their lives based on their own will. The ways in which Makishima conducts his crimes is strongly shaped by his awareness of his own deindividuation and that of others in that rather than doing the dirty work himself, he often convinces others that to help him in his plans would allow them to exercise free will and truly live. Near the climax of the
It is clear that the high levels of deindividuation and labeling present in the society of Psycho Pass have detrimental effects on the public and foster the conditions necessary to lead to deviance. The deviance of both one of the protagonists, Kougami, and the main antagonist Makishima, are a direct result of these circumstances.
Kougami is a former police inspector who was demoted to the role of “Enforcer” due to his crime coefficient rising to levels considered too dangerous to keep him on the job after becoming obsessed over the case of the murder of his colleague. The enforcers are latent criminals who are allowed to work with inspectors to catch criminals based on the theory that they know how criminals think. Due to their second class status, the enforcers are treated with a level of dehumanization, which although not very severe still plays into labelling theory. When the enforcers are first introduced, one of the inspectors, Ginoza, says to a newly recruited inspector “Don 't think that the guys you 're about to meet are human like us. Their Crime Coefficients all exceed a specific value. They are people of bankrupt character. Normally, they would be …show more content…
Makishima is criminally asymptomatic, meaning he cannot be measured by the Sibyl System. He can control his crime coefficient at will, allowing him to commit deviant acts as much as he pleases without fearing the repercussions. While the majority of civilians face deindividualization in that their identities are virtually reduced to numbers, Makishima experiences an even more severe level of deindividualization by not being measured by the system. In the episode 0109 Fruit of Paradise, Kogami theorizes that being "unrecognized" by Sibyl left Makishima feeling like a non-entity, which may have started him down the path of criminality in his single-minded goal of taking down the Sibyl System. It is not surprising that not being recognized by a system that dictates people’s lives down to the profession they go into and their ideal marriage partner caused Makishima significant distress. Makishima rejects the Sibyl System because be believes it strips people of the ability to truly live and determine the direction of their lives based on their own will. The ways in which Makishima conducts his crimes is strongly shaped by his awareness of his own deindividuation and that of others in that rather than doing the dirty work himself, he often convinces others that to help him in his plans would allow them to exercise free will and truly live. Near the climax of the