When an offender becomes dependant upon the way of life in an
institution, we refer to him as being "institutionalized." This is
actuallly a fairly common phenomenon. Prison life allows for very few
choices compared to life in the "free world." Prisoners are told when
and what they are to eat, when they can bathe, what job they can work,
etc., etc. For some people, relying upon the predetermined regiments
and schedules of institutional life becomes easier than learning or
maintaing the skills needed to be a free, responsible individual.
Therefore, they become "institutionalized."
Certainly, there are several types of personality disorders where the
individual copes better with a scheduled and regimented environment.
Therefore, it would seem reasonable to assume that some would
encourage institutionalization.
From my own experience, I can vividly remember one man who was sent
into my custody on the day before he was to be released from an
institution. When I asked about him the next day, I found out that
he had stolen a pair of boots at the bus terminal so that he would be
sent back to prison. I held him in my custody again a year later.
He told me that when he had been released a second time, he had fallen
back into doing drugs because of a fit of depression that had fallen
on him when his girlfriend left him. He said that eventually he had
turned himself in. This is what we mean by institutionaliziation. |