Discuss why total institutions are effective in stripping away people's personal

Total institutions are effective in stripping away a person's personal freedom by isolating the person from the public world and suppressing his or her preexisting statuses and replacing them with a new status and its expected roles. The individual loses all contact with former support systems and becomes an anonymous figure, stripped of power and influence. New rules, values, and versions of life replace the norms of the outside world. The individual’s entire life as a resident is closely supervised, and information, rewards, and punishments are controlled by those in charge of the total institution. The resident is provided only the information that his or her supervisors wish to share. Supervisors are also placed in positions of unquestioned power that is often accompanied by a lack of accountability. Rules are often enforced not because they make sense or are effective, but because "we always did it that way." This experience leaves a permanent mark on the individual's self that colors the way he or she now views the world.