incapacitation
1
7.8
- noun
- /ˌɪnkəˌpæsɪˈteɪʃən/
- Formal
:
incapacitación
- Imprisonment typically serves one or more classic purposes: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation.
- deterrence and incapacitation
- rehabilitation and incapacitation
Examples
-
We were left with an enormous state apparatus devoted to the efficient incapacitation of undesirable people.
Academic text (2003) -
Another widely accepted justification for criminal punishment is the incapacitation of dangerous offenders.
Academic text (2017) -
In its place, two new strategies, both concerned with social control and incapacitation, have come into prominence.
Academic text (2004) -
Most directly, pretrial detention generates an incapacitation effect over the period of pretrial custody.
Academic text (2017) -
But I do mean to argue that deterrence and incapacitation are not adequate bases for sentencing those convicted of crimes.
Academic text (2003) -
For felony offending, incapacitation effects from detention appear somewhat longer lasting, with detainees overtaking releasees only after several months.
Academic text (2017) -
Nevertheless, as with deterrence and rehabilitation, incapacitation provokes objections of effectiveness and moral principle (Walker 1985).
Academic text (1998) -
The first category, offender-facing justifications, includes many of the most familiar theories of punishment: deterrence, retribution, incapacitation, and rehabilitation.
Academic text (2017) -
Offender-facing justifications for punishment include many of the best-known theories of punishment, such as deterrence, retribution, incapacitation, and rehabilitation.
Academic text (2017) -
The government implemented policies focused on incapacitation to reduce crime rates by restricting offenders' freedoms.
Synonyms
155
3.9
A situation in which someone is kept and not allowed to leave, often by police until a decision is made
88
4.0
Being kept in prison as a punishment by law
85
8.0
Being kept in prison as punishment
80
5.9
A state of being kept in a small closed space and unable to move freely
7
6.7
Being held by police or officials for a short time
1
9.9
Shutting someone inside walls so they cannot leave
Antonyms
How Restrictive
- Formal
15
4.7
- Formal
1
7.8
19
4.2
- Formal
49
4.0
- Formal
187
5.6
108
2.7
321
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
incapacitation = incapacitate (semi-transparent) = in + capacit + ate + ion
The suffix '-ion' regularly forms a noun from 'incapacitate', but this criminology sense is a specialized policy term rather than a purely general action noun.
Etymology
Incapacitation comes from the prefix in- meaning 'not' and the same root as capable and capacity, which mean 'able' or 'power to act'. So in law, incapacitation is about keeping someone 'not able' to commit more crimes, for example by keeping them in prison to protect the public.