Today I was intrigued by the idea that Foucault claims delinquency is used to naturalize the social order. This idea seemed to illuminate all of Foucault’s previous work at the beginning of the book. Earlier, the idea of punishment is to rectify any wrong to the king’s power. Foucault gives us an evolution of this power’s transformation as society evolves. We no longer have a king to rule us. Instead, the power now resides with the sovereign, which is supposed to represent all of the people. I believe Foucault is trying to illuminate, by way of expounding upon the discipline structure of society, how the sovereign is not necessarily the people. Punishment and the establishment of the delinquent are the means by which the middle and upper class keep their power over that of the lower class. The interesting thing about this idea is that it is even more believable when we look at real life examples.
In America today everyone is granted a lawyer if they are accused of the crime. Yet, there is a huge difference between the lawyers given to a poor criminal and the lawyers that a rich criminal can afford to pay. For example, a very good lawyer can get charges reduced or dropped for a rich client through their knowledge of the law system. These lawyers spend much more time on their clients diverting charges until they can find a good defense case. This type of attention cannot be afforded by the poor criminal. Thus, he is stuck with harsher charges, and the power of the class systems are maintained.