A total institution is an establishment, such as a prison, asylum, or barracks, where people live and work cut off from wider society under a single authority. The concept also helps read China’s pre-reform work unit, whose hold later weakened with reform.
- Entry typeKey concept
- Category of its source unitGovernance Institutions & Procedures
- DomainOrganization & Structure
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Entry type
Key concept
Key concepts are the working vocabulary of the field: the terms that the models and tools rely on and that a decision about communication has to use precisely. Each entry defines the term and sends you to the brief or the self-guided audit where it is put to work.
Editorial orientation · Category
Governance Institutions & Procedures
Organizes authority, representation, participation, deliberation, collective decision or institutional resolution of conflict. Its contribution concerns who may act, speak, decide or challenge, and under what arrangements.