in ‧ sti ‧ tu ‧ tion ‧ al ‧ ized AC BrE AmE ( also institutionalised British English ) /ˌɪnstə'tjuːʃ ə nəlaɪzd, ˌɪnstɪ'tjuːʃ ə nəlaɪzd $ -ˈtuː-/ adjective
1 . institutionalized attitudes and behaviour have existed for a long time in an organization and have become accepted as normal even though they are bad
institutionalized racism/sexism etc
institutionalized corruption within the state
2 . someone who has become institutionalized has lived for a long time in a prison, mental hospital etc and now cannot easily live outside one
3 . forming part of a society or system:
institutionalised democracy