Final answer:
A total institution is a place where people are cut off from society and lead an administered life together. A jail is a classic example of a total institution because it confines individuals and deprives them of personal freedoms to a significant extent, unlike high schools, political parties, or gyms.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term total institution refers to a place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life. Prisons, military boot camps, and psychiatric hospitals are classic examples of total institutions. Based on this definition, the answer to the question 'Which of these is an example of a total institution?' is a. Jail.
A jail is a facility in which individuals are physically confined and usually deprived of a range of personal freedoms for the purpose of punishment, treatment, or protection of society. High schools, political parties, and gyms do not fit the criteria for total institutions as they do not encapsulate their members' lives to the degree required of such a designation.