institutionalization

American  

[in-sti-too-shuh-nl-ahy-zey-shuhn, -tyoo-] / ˌɪn stɪˌtu ʃə nlˌaɪˈzeɪ ʃən, -ˌtyu- /

noun

1. the act or process of establishing a group, movement, program, etc., as a permanent and publicly recognized entity for the promotion of a particular cause.

   The study measures the level of institutionalization of 28 African political parties based on four dimensions: roots in society, level of organization, autonomy, and coherence.

   The introduction of clearly designated offices of leadership, like elders and bishops, marked a growing institutionalization of the church.

2. the process of making a principle or pattern of behavior into a normative policy or practice perpetuated in public establishments such as schools, courts, legislative bodies, etc..

   We are committed to the institutionalization of racial and gender equality.

3. the act or practice of placing a person into a care facility, as for elderly people or those with mental illness, addiction, disabilities, etc..

   The downside is that institutionalization severely limits a person's ability to interact with family and friends, to work, and to participate in community life.

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Other Word Forms

• reinstitutionalization noun

Etymology

Origin of institutionalization

institutionaliz(e) ( def. ) + -ation ( def. )

Example Sentences

In the wake of the hearings, in July 1957, Republican Gov. Goodwin Knight signed the Short-Doyle Act, providing $850,000 to create the clinics to divert patients from institutionalization.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 10, 2025

The third piece of the Cicero platform is to expand civil commitment laws, which permit the involuntary hospitalization or institutionalization of people with mental illnesses.

From Slate • Jan. 22, 2025

He wrote that he was “very sick” and suggested that he had lied about his health to avoid further treatment or institutionalization.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 21, 2023

Led by a Black janitor at Moshe’s theater, the town comes together to protect a deaf boy from institutionalization.

From New York Times • Jun. 9, 2023

Thus the informal Torricellian network marks the effective beginning of the institutionalization of science, driven by the conviction that collaboration and exchange would lead to more rapid progress.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton