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carceral

carceral

9.7
Relating to prisons and the system that keeps people locked up
  • adjective
  • /ˈkɑːrsərəl/
  • Formal
translation icon : carcelario
  • Many activists are working to reform the carceral policies that disproportionately affect marginalized communities.
  • carceral archipelago
  • carceral network

He pointed at the beginning of Jackie Wong's title, Carceral Capitalism.

Examples

  • Imprisonment did not become the core component of a carceral archipelago.

    Academic text (2005)
  • It is a carceral society whose prisons overflowed with an estimated 120,000 people awaiting trial on charges of genocide in the 1990s.

    Academic text (2005)
  • We can shrink the overall size of the carceral state and still keep community safe.

  • The first step in such a shift was for the nation to be imagined as an enclosed space, what Foucault calls a carceral network.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The American Legislative Exchange Council has dropped its support not just for prison privatization but for mandatory minimums and other carceral measures.

    Blog text (4)
  • Foucault's carceral archipelago cannot be defined merely as a collection of prisons.

    Academic text (2005)
  • All of these patterns prompted sociologist Luis Quan to speak of the carceral state as a new, distinct state of racial oppression.

  • The Indian state administers Kashmir Valley in a carceral capacity, with Kashmiris cast in a state of permanent captivity that constrains their choices and delimits their destinies.

    Academic text (2009)
  • The documentary shed light on the harsh realities of the carceral system in the country.

  • Researchers are studying the impact of carceral practices on rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates.

Synonyms

correctional
vscarceral
  • Formal
60 5.8

Relating to punishment or help for people who commit crimes in places like prisons

is broader referring to any aspect of prisons and incarceration systems
penological
vscarceral
  • Specialized
9.3

Relating to the study and practice of running prisons and punishing crime

is general describing relation to prisons rather than the academic study

How Prisonlike

carceral
  • Formal
9.7
barred
4.1
confining
1 6.2
restrictive
52 4.7

Surface Forms

carceral positive

Etymology

Carceral comes from the Latin carcer, meaning 'prison', and is the same root behind incarcerate. So carceral describes things that belong to prisons or to imprisonment.