institutionalization
Americannoun
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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.
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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.
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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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Etymology
Origin of institutionalization
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Still, longer-term drivers such as the institutionalization of digital assets remain intact, suggesting that any price pullbacks could offer buying opportunities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
MOCA’s permanent collection exhibitions show how, when the museum was founded in the late 1970s, it represented something wholly new: the beginning of L.A. art’s full-scale institutionalization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 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
I would support any effort toward stronger institutionalization of services — health services, mental health care, job training, post-incarceration care — separate from the criminal justice system.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2024
Legal rulings empowered people with developmental disabilities to refuse treatment and created rights for the mentally disabled that made forced institutionalization much less common.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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