Magnetic resonance imaging the modern Panopticon: A Foucauldian exploration of power and control in MRI

Introduction: Undergoing MRI can be a distressing experience with an imbalance in power between patient and practitioner1-3. In 17914, Bentham designed an influential ‘architectural’ perfect prison or “Panopticon”. Foucault5 used the “Panopticon” as a modern metaphor for social power structures where pervasive surveillance combined with disciplinary mechanisms can lead to anxiety and self-monitoring amongst individuals and society. This scientific poster explores power structures in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) through a Foucauldian “Panopticism” lens6.
Aim: To illuminate power and control structures within clinical MRI by examining patient lived experience through a Foucauldian lens.
Methods: Eight participants from NSW were recruited providing deep insight into their lived experience of MRI in this ethics approved qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology7,8 study. Lived experience data was collected through two stage semi-structured interviews.
Results: MRI evokes aspects of Bentham’s4 original “Panopticon” design. The participants describe MRI as confined space where they feel isolated, trapped and caged in their ‘peripheral cell’. Participants described being under ‘constant surveillance’ resulting in self-regulating behaviours (and source of their anxiety) where power and control are exerted through a ‘medical gaze’ by MRI practitioners in their ‘central inspection tower’.
Conclusions: MRI is not a prison; however, it regulates patient behaviour and enforces obedience as the gateway to diagnosis, prognosis and therefore treatment. A Foucauldian exploration of MRI patient experience provides unique insight into ways healthcare exerts control over patients’ bodies and their behaviours within contemporary society. Physically and metaphorically the MRI environment and process is a modern example of a Panopticon.
Keywords: Distress, patient experience, MRI, power, hermeneutic phenomenology, qualitative

References:
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