noun · academic
incarceration
UK/ɪnˌkɑːsəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/US/ɪnˌkɑːrsəˈreɪʃən/in·car·cer·A·tion
Band 7+speakingtask2
the state of being put in prison as a legal punishment
Examples
“The report links high incarceration rates to social inequality.”
“Many argue that mass incarceration does not reduce crime long-term.”
“Alternatives to incarceration include community service and rehabilitation programmes.”
Band 8 sentence
“Reducing incarceration requires investment in social services, not just harsher policing.”
Collocations
- face incarceration
- mass incarceration
- alternatives to incarceration
Word family
incarcerate verbincarcerated adjectiveincarceration noun
Common mistakes
get incarceration→be incarcerated
an incarceration→incarceration
Say it for a higher band
5jail→6imprisonment→7+incarceration
Synonyms
imprisonment
Easily confused
jail
“The senator criticised the government's use of incarceration for minor offences.”
Related words
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In Crime & Law
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