Assignment on Prisons as a Total Institution

Total Institution
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Total Institution
A total institution is defined as that social system where people live in a closed system and are guided by strict norms, rules, and regulation. According to Goffman, the description of a total institution fits that of a prison in the characteristics of isolation, authoritative rules, controlling and managing people’s life (Goffman, 1971). Therefore, prison can be classified as a total institution s it attempts to resocialize the prisoner to become law-abiding citizens.
In prison, the inmates operate under a standardized and regulated system that deters them from engaging with the outside community. Whereby, a prisoner is forced to have a standardized lifestyle like dressing on a common uniform, shave their heads and behave in a systemized manner that reflects in their ability to abide by the law (Rauf, Prasad, & Razzaque, 2018). These attributes suit the basic characteristics of a total institution as described by Goffman. Additionally, the central focus of a total institution forms a barrier that forms the sphere of life, which makes the people within a total institution, feel like they are not living a normal life (Schliehe, 2016). These spheres of life include the normal routine such as leisure, work and freedom, which are also excluded on the hospital.
Military service is a total institution that services the purpose of protecting the lives of other from threats. It provides partial freedom, which is different from that of a total prison institution.

A prison and a military service have strict rules and operate under an authoritative structure, which makes them both a total institution (Mouzelis, 1971). Nonetheless, the two systems make the members behave in a manner that they obey the law. The military are considered a partial free society, but the prison enforces inmate to be part of the system.
References
Goffman, E. (1971). Characteristic of Total Institutions
Mouzelis, N. P. (1971). On Total Institutions. Sociology, 5(1), 113–120.
Rauf, A. A., Prasad, A., & Razzaque, M. A. (2018). Consumption within a soft total institution: Discursive inculcation in the Tablighi Jamaat. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 42(6), 854–864.
Schliehe, A. K. (2016). Re-Discovering Goffman: Contemporary Carceral Geography, the “Total” Institution and Notes on Heterotopia. Geografiska Annaler Series B: Human Geography, 98(1), 19–35.