deinstitutionalization

noun

1. the process of abolishing a practice that has been considered a norm

- The government began the deinstitutionalization of background checks for certain Federal jobs.

2. the process of releasing a person from a facility where their freedom to leave has been restrained

- The deinstitutionalization of minor offenders helps reduce prison overcrowding.

3. the process of reducing a person's dependence on an institutional environment

- After thirty years in the asylum, deinstitutionalization would present many problems.