Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Given the character of an institution or incorporated into a structured and usually well-established system: Describes something that has become an established, formal, and often rigid part of a system or organization.
   • Officially placed in or committed to a specialized institution: Describes a person who has become a long-term resident of an institution like a prison, hospital, or care home, often to the point of being dependent on it.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (System):
  • Corruption became so common it was almost institutionalised within the government.
  • The practice had become institutionalised over decades, making reform difficult.
• Adjective (Person):
  • After years in the asylum, he had become completely institutionalised and feared life outside.
  • The programme aims to help institutionalised children adapt to family life.

Advanced Usage

• "to become institutionalised": To adapt so thoroughly to the routines and restrictions of an institution (like a prison or long-term hospital) that one loses the ability to function independently in the outside world.
  • Prisoners serving very long sentences risk becoming institutionalised.
• Used in sociology to describe practices or norms that are so embedded in a society's structure they are seen as natural and unchangeable.
  • Gender roles were deeply institutionalised in that culture.

Variants and Related Words

• Institutionalize (verb): To establish as a norm or practice within an institution or system; to place someone in an institution.
  • The government moved to institutionalize the new safety protocols.
• Institutionalization (noun): The process of becoming institutionalised.
  • The institutionalization of these procedures took several years.
• Institutional (adjective): Relating to or characteristic of an institution.
  • The building had a cold, institutional feel.

Synonyms

• Systematized: Arranged according to a system.
• Formalized: Given a definite structure or form.
• Incarcerated (for the 'person' sense): Imprisoned or confined.

Related Phrases

• Institutionalised racism/discrimination: Discrimination that is embedded as normal practice within a society or organization.
  • The report exposed institutionalised racism within the police force.
• Institutionalised care: Long-term care provided within a residential institution.
  • He required institutionalised care for his condition.

Adjective

1. given the character of an institution or incorporated into a structured and usually well-established system
   • institutionalized graft
   • institutionalized suicide as practiced in Japan
2. officially placed in or committed to a specialized institution
   • had hopes of rehabilitating the institutionalized juvenile delinquents