Foucault, in “The Order of Discourse”, tells us that he
believes that there are “societies of discourse” where an argument is made,
however, it’s difficult for one to understand the argument without knowing the
circumstances around the argument, an idea that he calls “doctrines”. I believe
this is telling of all of the conflict that is happening around Ferguson,
Missouri.
For the protesters and certain other people, it seems
unreasonable for a police officer to use a deadly weapon against an unarmed
person, even in self-defense. This, added to the idea that has been portrayed in
the popular media of police officers not needing to resort to such extreme
means to “get their man” in television shows and movies, makes it seem that
Darren Wilson used excessive force to subdue his attacker. This set of ideas
and beliefs help to shape people’s perception of the incident, what Foucault
would call “doctrine”.
On the other hand, police officers, and other citizens who
routinely carry firearms for self-defense that are trained in reasonable uses
of force in accordance with existing laws, understand a different doctrine. Their
doctrine tells them that deadly force that is used as a last resort when all
other means have failed or cannot be reasonably employed, is an appropriate
response to an attacker that causes the victim to believe that his or her life,
or the lives of others, is in immediate danger.
The difference between the two doctrines are what I believe
is currently causing strife in Ferguson, Missouri. In addition to the above
listed basic constructs, there are pre-conceived notions that people have in
addition to the basic crowd ideas that are listed above that continue to
compound the situation.
