{"id":17073,"date":"2022-11-20T01:34:19","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T01:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/?p=17073"},"modified":"2024-06-17T18:19:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T18:19:03","slug":"total-institution-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/total-institution-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"21 Total Institution Examples in Sociology (Definition)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"724\" src=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/total-institutions-definition-examples-types-1024x724.jpg\" alt=\"total institutions definition examples types\" class=\"wp-image-17870\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/total-institutions-definition-examples-types-1024x724.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/total-institutions-definition-examples-types-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/total-institutions-definition-examples-types-768x543.jpg 768w, https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/total-institutions-definition-examples-types.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>Examples of total institutions include prisons, boarding schools, work camps, re-education camps, monasteries, and nursing homes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to sociologist Erving Goffman (1961):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A total institution may be defined as a place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life (p. 31).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Goffman analyzes total institutions based on his research on asylums. According to Goffman, total institutions eliminate the boundaries that ordinarily separate work, home, and leisure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A single authority manages all aspects of life through coercive methods. The people under the control of this authority are called inmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Total Institution Definition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>A total institution is a type of organization. This type of organization restricts the residents (inmates) to a single site for a long time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It detaches inmates from life outside and exercises coercive control (which is why Weber calls it a <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/coercive-organization\/\">coercive organization<\/a>). Through coercion and barriers, the total institution systematically seeks to change the identities of the inmates against their will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the total institution, a supervisory staff holds the power. The staff treats all individuals in the same way and keeps them in groups throughout daily activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a tight schedule of these activities according to a general plan (Goffman, 1961, pp. 38-39).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a structure that makes the inmates powerless and impairs their personhood or<a href=\"https:\/\/texasarchive.org\/2016_02378\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/texasarchive.org\/2016_02378\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dehumanizes<\/a> them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Types of Social Institutions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Goffman distinguishes five sorts of total institutions, each with a distinct role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are total institutions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Care institutions:<\/strong> \u201cTo care for the disabled, incapable and harmless\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Quarantine intitutions:<\/strong> \u201cTo contain those with infectious diseases\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prisons: <\/strong>\u201cTo protect the community from \u2018dangerous\u2019 people\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Educational and productive: <\/strong>\u201cTo enable the collective pursuit of an educational or work task\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Retreats: <\/strong>\u201cTo provide sanctuary for those who voluntarily retreated from society.\u201d (Scott, 2011, p. 9)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Goffman primarily focuses on the first three types \u2013 care institutions, quarantine institutions, and prisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Total Institution Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"inherit-container-width wp-block-group withborder is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>A Quick Shortlist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nursing homes (care)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mental hospitals (care)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rehab centers (care)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Orphanages (care)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Quarantine facilities (quarantine)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prison or jail (prisons)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Refugee applicant processing centers (prisons)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Re-education camps (prisons)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Juvenile detention (prisons)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Boarding schools (education and productivity)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Workplaces (education and productivity)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Government labs (education and productivity)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Universities (education and productivity)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Religious and spiritual communities (retreats)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Remote work camps (education and productivity)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Boot camps (education and productivity)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The military (education and productivity)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Monasteries (retreats)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Yoga retreats (retreats)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Meditation retreats (retreats)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cults (retreats)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cruise ships (retreats)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Re-education camps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>A re-education camp is a facility where people are isolated and detained without <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/due-process-examples\/\" title=\"due process\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">due process<\/a> of law. People are subject to harsh conditions in such a facility.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were examples of it during World War II (WWII). The German regume placed and terminated millions of minorities, communists, Roma people, homosexuals, and the crippled into camps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many never made it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other nation have also done it, albeit in somewhat better conditions. The US forcibly relocated and detained over a hundred twenty thousand US citizens of Japanese ancestry in camps during WWII.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the present day, China detains members of the Uyghur and other <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/minority-group-examples\/\">ethnic minority groups<\/a> in detention camps according to an official plan of re-education (or, more accurately, <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/indoctrination-examples\/\">indoctrination<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2.&nbsp; Boarding schools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>In a typical day school, students leave home to attend school during the day for a certain amount of time and go back home.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contrasting, students spend their day and night at boarding school, living and studying there. They go home only for their vacations. Boarding school provides education, meals, and accommodation to their students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to rules, these schools impose collective arrangements over students\u2019 movements, dressing, dining, bathing, sleeping, and <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/leisure-activities-examples\/\">leisure activities<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Boarding schools exercise control over students\u2019 bodies, from wearing uniforms to hairstyles, from walking and sitting straight to self-care and decency. Students have limited space of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Prisons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>A prison is a building or collection of buildings where the justice system forces convicted criminals to live as a punishment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prison system, social structures, and criminal justice policy in regulation are related to one another. As of 2021, the US has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/262961\/countries-with-the-most-prisoners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the highest number<\/a> of prisoners, followed by China and Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the increasing number of prisons in the last decades in various countries, their effectiveness in crime reduction is meager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prisoners could be subject to inhumane living conditions. The correctional staff could be corrupt and abuse power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to a report by <a href=\"https:\/\/eji.org\/issues\/prison-conditions\/?__cf_chl_tk=mtQMxO6RtEv.S764c1AD5zVq9ey1PjY3OZtN4_Jbtm8-1668263294-0-gaNycGzNCKU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Equal Justice Initiative<\/a>, prisoners may be denied medical and mental treatment. Such inadequate medical services undermine <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/dignity-examples\/\">human dignity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Boot camps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>Boot camps or military recruit training refer to the initial training provided to newcomers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the training, many restrictions apply in terms of mobility. Recruits live at the training site and cannot leave it, coming under the military staff&#8217;s command. The personnel controls all the daily routines of the recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recruits have to obey the rules of conduct, training, and order. They have to act as part of a team in all matters and wear uniforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They cannot have long hair or grow a beard. The hierarchical system punishes those recruits who deny following orders or question them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such training is physically and psychologically demanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Workplaces<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>According to Warouw (2008), a factory has features resembling a total institution.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People work collectively in factories for long hours, detached from the larger society to produce goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The production cycle has its particular time limits and thus demands a certain rhythm at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under supervision, the workers work accordingly. The boss, the owner of the factory, is the authority imposing the rules, structures, and production targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Charlie Chaplin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EAnhodvVvmc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Modern Times<\/a> (1936) portrays the relationship between workers, the boss, and supervisors regarding production time and rhythm and the role of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The movie also invites the viewers to compare the factory with the prison. \u201cFoxconn City\u201d can be a more recent example (Lucas, Kang, Li, 2013).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A total institution is a type of organization that restricts the residents (inmates) to a single site for a long time. It detaches inmates from life outside, and exercises coercive control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through coercion and barriers, the total institution systematically impairs the personhood of inmates. Individuals staying or kept in a total institution can lose their autonomy and identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Total institutions eliminate the boundaries that ordinarily separate work, home, and leisure. A supervisory staff holds the power. The staff treats all individuals in the same way and keeps them in groups throughout daily activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Goffman, E. (1961). <em>Asylums: Essays on the condition of the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. <\/em>Anchor Books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lucas, K., Kang, D., &amp; Li, Z. (2013). Workplace dignity in a total institution: Examining the experiences of Foxconn\u2019s migrant workforce. <em>Journal of Business Ethics<\/em>, <em>114<\/em>(1), 91-106.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scott, S. (2011). <em>Total institutions and reinvented identities<\/em>. Cambridge: Palgrave Macmillan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Warouw, J. N. (2008). Industrial workers in transition: women&#8217;s experiences of factory work in Tangerang. In M. Ford &amp; L. Parker (Eds.), <em>Women and work in Indonesia<\/em> (pp. 104-119). Routledge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Examples of total institutions include prisons, boarding schools, work camps, re-education camps, monasteries, and nursing homes. According to sociologist Erving Goffman (1961): A total institution may be defined as a place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,138],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sociology","category-sociology-101-course-module-4"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Chris Drew (PhD)","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"authorship-box-avatar":false,"authorship-box-related":false,"authorship-post-flat":false,"authorship-post-cards":false,"authorship-post-thumbs":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Chris Drew (PhD)","author_link":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/author\/chris-drew-phd\/"},"uagb_comment_info":3,"uagb_excerpt":"Examples of total institutions include prisons, boarding schools, work camps, re-education camps, monasteries, and nursing homes. According to sociologist Erving Goffman (1961): A total institution may be defined as a place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17073"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39096,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17073\/revisions\/39096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}