{"id":629,"date":"2020-10-28T05:06:31","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T05:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/?p=629"},"modified":"2020-10-28T05:06:31","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T05:06:31","slug":"civil-commitment-through-the-lens-of-the-novel-and-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/2020\/10\/28\/civil-commitment-through-the-lens-of-the-novel-and-police\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil Commitment Through the Lens of “The Novel and Police”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have used D.A. Miller\u2019s \u201cThe Novel and the Police\u201d as a lens to while reading Heather Willis\u2019 article, \u201cCreeping By Moonlight: A Look at Civil Commitment Laws or Sexually Violent Predators.\u201d (below I have included a small slide by Chrystal Ford that gives a quick explanation on what civil commitment is) Miller\u2019s article describes policing with a source of power that stems from the upholding of a social norm. This idea spreads through \u201can ideal of unseen but all-seeing surveillance, which, though partly realized in several, often interconnected institutions, is identified with none.\u201d It also describes a \u201cregime of the norm,\u201d in which normalized societal practices and perspectives hold power and governance. The article \u201cCreeping By Moonlight\u201d argues that civil commitment for sexual offenders creates the same mental decline that Jane experiences in \u201cThe Yellow Wallpaper.\u201d The article starts by introducing and summarizing the main plot and messages of \u201cThe Yellow Wallpaper,\u201d and then goes into detail on the power dynamics behind civil commitment and it\u2019s implementation. <\/span><\/p>\n

The enforcement of discipline, according to Miller\u2019s article, \u201centails a relative relaxation of policing power. No doubt this manner of passing off the regulation of every day life is the best manner of passing it on.\u201d (Miller, 16) This idea can be seen when looking at the points of Willis\u2019 article. There is a distinction within the text made between prison and civil commitment. Civil commitment is supposed to be treatment of mental disorders behind sexual assault. It is a step forward into returning to society as a \u201cfunctional member.\u201d The relaxing of restraints is supposed to allow opportunity for the convicts to learn to act as they should. They taken out of a highly controlled prison system and are placed into another one, where they given a false sense of freedom and choice. Their escape from civil commitment relies on whether society, or the assigned doctor, deems they are functioning up to societal\/normalized standards. <\/span><\/p>\n

Miller expands on the modes of discipline and the institutionalized ways that they can discretely emerge. \u201cDisciplinary power constitutively mobilizes a tactic of tact: it is the policing power that never passes for such, but is either invisible or visible only under the cover of other, nobler or simply blander intentions (to educate, to cure, to produce, to defend.)\u201d (Miller, 17) The civil commitment that Willis describes falls under this mode is discipline. According to Willis, the true intention in many (but not all) sentences of civi commitment is continued punishment, but it hides under the intention of curing the convicts and protecting society from harm. Therefore, it is actually a mode of discipline, not mental treatment. Willis draws back to \u201cThe Yellow Wallpaper\u201d when explaining how there is no mandated medical treatment for these individuals and that credible proof of a \u201cmedical illness\u201d is blurry to begin with. \u201cSexually violent predator laws also create a class of convicted criminals outside the criminal justice system who have been infantilized and told they cannot control or take care of themselves in society.\u201d (Willis, 182) Willis suggests that convicts are convinced of the fact that they cannot control their own actions to fit society standards. Under the best of circumstances, being able to fit into societal norms is the main policing power and deciding factor of their freedom. Many more of Willis\u2019 points could definitely be viewed though the lens of \u201cThe Novel and Police,\u201d especially because both prioritize social standards as forms of power.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have used D.A. Miller\u2019s \u201cThe Novel and the Police\u201d as a lens to while reading Heather Willis\u2019 article, \u201cCreeping By Moonlight: A Look at Civil Commitment Laws or Sexually Violent Predators.\u201d (below I have included a small slide by Chrystal Ford that gives a quick explanation on what civil commitment is) Miller\u2019s article describes … Continue reading Civil Commitment Through the Lens of “The Novel and Police”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4451,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[138877],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2020"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4451"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}