1. a highly organized and restrictive social institution that maintains a high degree of control over the activities of those individuals who are members of, or confined to, it. Prisons, mental health facilities, and military bases are (in many cases) examples, because nearly all the activities of prisoners, patients, and personnel are regulated by the staff or officers.

2. a traditional social institution that becomes so rigid that it takes on many of the qualities of a restrictive social institution. Marriage, for example, has been characterized as a total institution because it often creates a high degree of uniformity in the lifestyles and choices of adults.