We announce our landmark DARVO study and we ask for your support

New Study Links “DARVO” Defense Tactic to Acts of Sexual Harassment and Rape Myth Beliefs 

I am excited to tell you about  a  landmark study published on December 4, 2024, in the peer-reviewed and open access journal PLOS ONE.  It  reveals a striking link between the manipulative defense tactic known as DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) – often used by institutions and by powerful leaders -- with acts of sexual harassment and belief in rape myths.

This new study was funded by the Center for Institutional Courage and led by our former post-doctoral fellow Dr. Sarah Harsey, with Dr. Alexis Adams-Clark and Dr. Jennifer Freyd.

When I first identified DARVO, it was from observing how offenders manipulate accountability. Since then, research has revealed DARVO’s power to harm victims and confuse observers.  This new study is the first to quantify characteristics of people who use DARVO, showing that using DARVO is associated with sexual harassment perpetration and is connected to a worldview that justifies and perpetuates sexual violence.

Key Findings:

• In a survey of 602 university students, researchers found a positive correlation between DARVO use and both sexual harassment perpetration and acceptance of rape myths.

• A second survey of 335 community members further reinforced these findings, showing very strong correlations between DARVO, sexual harassment behavior, and rape-supportive attitudes. (Graph available upon request.)

• Behavior: Using DARVO is connected to perpetrating sexual harassment.

• Beliefs: Using DARVO is linked to believing in rape myths

For more information about our DARVO research:

• The full press release regarding new publication  

• Full Text of New Publication: Harsey, S., Adams-Clark, A.A. & Freyd, J. J. (2024). Associations between defensive victim-blaming responses (DARVO), rape myth acceptance, and sexual harassment. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313642

• Summary of prior DARVO research

The Guardian published an article about this new research and how it may relate to current events in an article titled “Commonly used defense tactic strongly correlates with acceptance of rape myths – study.”

And now my request for your support

Institutions shape our lives—schools, hospitals, governments, and places of worship. When they work, they protect and uplift us. But when they fail? They betray us, leaving the vulnerable to suffer while chasing power and profit.

The Center for Institutional Courage is fixing this. Our mission is to transform institutions through research and education, ensuring they serve people with accountability, integrity, and courage.

“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”

— Desmond Tutu

I haven’t asked for your support in over a year, but I’m reaching out now because the stakes are higher than ever. Institutions are at a crossroads. While some progress has been made, we risk backsliding if we don’t act now. The pressure to prioritize profit, power, and self-protection over accountability and service is relentless. We must harden institutions against betrayal and ensure they are held accountable—because when they falter, it’s the most vulnerable who pay the highest price.

We’re doing the upstream work—funding 33 research grants, advancing findings like DARVO, and empowering leaders across government, schools, and corporations to build stronger, braver organizations. Every week, I hear how our research and education are making institutions more accountable, ethical, and courageous.

But this fight isn’t over. Institutions won’t transform themselves, and progress is fragile. That’s why I’m asking for your help. Your year-end gift powers the work that turns institutional betrayal into institutional courage, creating a world where organizations serve and protect us all.

Please donate today.  Let’s move upstream together.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

Impact in Psychology

Last month as the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), held in Seattle, I was presented with the American Psychological Foundation (APF) 2024 Gold Medal Award for Impact in Psychology.   

The citation for the award includes mention of the Center for Institutional Courage:

Jennifer Joy Freyd is recognized for her trailblazing research and advocacy, which has reshaped the understanding of trauma, betrayal, and responses to sexual violence. Her theory of betrayal trauma challenged prevailing assumptions, particularly regarding survivors of child sexual abuse. Dr. Freyd’s resilience and commitment to justice have inspired countless individuals worldwide and influenced therapeutic approaches, policy reforms, and societal attitudes toward trauma and gender-based violence. Dr. Freyd has also served as a prominent figure in significant social movements that empower victims, such as #MeToo. Through initiatives like the Center for Institutional Courage, she continues to advocate for survivors’ rights and promote ethical research practices, aiming for a more equitable society where survivors find validation and healing.

The Gold Medal Award has led to several written publications, two of which are linked below, and also an opportunity for me to give remarks (that were recorded) at the August 10 award event in Seattle, also linked below:   

1. A probing article written by the three individuals who nominated me for the award. JenniferJ. Freyd Wins American Psychological Foundation 2024 Gold Medal Award for Impact in Psychology by Michael Salter, Jennifer M. Gomez, and Judith L. Herman, ISSTD News, 17 April 2024.

2. A biography published in APA’s flagship archival journal: APF Gold Medal Award for Impact in Psychology: Jennifer Joy Freyd (2024). American Psychologist, 79(5), 700–702. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001382.

3. Link to a 5-minute recording of my remarks on August 10 upon receiving the award  

Receiving this award is especially meaningful for me because it represents acknowledgement from mainstream psychology regarding the importance of our work.  This acknowledgement feels new and also gives me hope for the future. As I commented for the press release from the APF: “I am grateful for this award. I am also hopeful that this acknowledgement will help in our efforts to investigate and prevent betrayal trauma and institutional betrayal while discovering how to nurture institutional courage.”

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

Exploring Institutional Betrayal and Courage: Two Compelling Podcast Series

We are excited to highlight two powerful podcast series that have recently focused on the critical issues of institutional betrayal and institutional courage. These series provide profound and courageous examinations of real-life experiences, offering listeners valuable insights into these important concepts. One series originates from the USA, while the other offers an international perspective.

The series Deconstructing Rape, by Sally Kenney, has released 9 episodes. From the series website:

Political Science Professor Sally J. Kenney draws on her expertise as a scholar of gender, law and public policy, her consciousness as a survivor, and her savvy as an activist to interview the leading scholars on rape, starting with season one by interviewing leading scholars who are themselves survivors.  Not just an expert but compassionate companion, Kenney joins the global movement to envision and create a world without sexual violence.

In Episode 5 Sally Kenney and Jennifer Freyd discuss institutional betrayal and institution courage including some of the ways these concepts have been relevant to Freyd’s experiences.

• Deconstructing Rape, Episode 5: Interview with Jennifer Freyd by Sally J. Kenney, Deconstructing Rape Podcast, 16 July 2024.

The series The Adults in the Room, by Nastya Krasinikova for Libo Libo, focuses on allegations of sexual abuse at a prestigious school in Russia, and the ways the experiences students had at the school and the related institutional responses, have reverberated through Russia and beyond. From the series website:

Moscow’s School 57 is one of the best schools in Russia. It requires rigorous entrance exams, and its graduates include renowned scientists, economists and journalists. . . . In 2016, news broke of a scandal at the school. A long-serving history teacher had been accused of sexually abusing students. . . . The story spans many years and multiple countries. It asks what happens when a community refuses to atone for the crimes of its leaders.

An interview Jennifer Freyd provided is broadcast in part in Episodes 7 and 10 of The Adults in the Room.

• The Adults in the Room [Freyd interview featured in Episode 7: Institutional Betrayal and Episode 10: What Happens Next.] by Nastya Krasilnikova, Libo/Libo, 15 May 2024.

Both podcast series are brave and informative. Both series represent an awakening awareness of institutional betrayal and appreciation for the potential of institutional courage.

Courage Funds Research on Betrayal and Courage in Religious Institutions

This week Courage has announced a new round of research grants, notable this year for an important focus on betrayal and courage in religious institutions.

I am very pleased that Courage has been able to fund 10 proposals as part of our competitive Institutional Courage Research Grant program, our third set of grants funded with the generous support of our donors. In particular, some of the awarded proposals focus on an issue with profound significance to many: institutional betrayal within and by religious institutions. For decades, I have personally received much outreach from victims of such betrayal, and it is encouraging to see researchers focusing on this important and developing area of institutional betrayal research.

Three of the funded projects are focused on institutional betrayal in a religious institution:

• Betrayed by the Saints, Betrayed by God: An Exploratory Investigation into Childhood Sexual Abuse as Religious Betrayal in the LDS (Mormon) Church

• The Impact of Church-Related Institutional Betrayal / Courage on Post-Traumatic Growth in Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

• Impact of Institutional Betrayal and DARVO on Survivors of Clergy-perpetrated Sexual Abuse

The remaining seven projects are also of great interest to us at Courage:

• International Students' Experiences of Institutional Betrayal in the Aftermath of Interpersonal Violence

• Surveilled and Controlled: How Criminal Legal Surveillance Produces a System of Sexual Violence

• Institutional Norms about Prioritizing Students’ Needs Legitimize Contrapower Harassment

• Linking Veterans who Experience Intimate Partner Violence to Civil Legal Assistance

• Perceptions of Institutional Betrayal and Courage among Ethnic Minority Sorority Members at a Hispanic Serving Institution

• Experiences of Campus Sexual Assault, Institutional Betrayal, and Institutional Support Among Queer Survivors of Color

• Institutional Courage, Justice and Healing: A Participatory Action Research Project to Improve College Campus Response to Sexual Violence and Center Survivors

More about the 10 new projects can be found on our Grants Funded page.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

Having the Courage

Having the Courage . . . to imagine possibilities, to move forward, to persevere, and to show up and speak up.

That was the theme of Claremont Graduate University’s 97th Commencement on May 11, 2024.  I was invited to be the commencement speaker and to receive an honorary doctorate – two new and meaningful experiences for me that would probably not have happened without our work together at the Center for Institutional Courage.  

In my commencement speech (text version here) I talked about the potential the graduates had to nurture institutional courage and why I believed their doing so would likely bring them meaning, satisfaction, and joy.  I also told a story from my own life:

I want to describe to you today the events that led me to come up with the concept of institutional courage. The story is not one you likely have heard before, even if you know something about my past encounters with betrayal and courage.  (continue reading here)

The commencement ceremony was live-streamed and video-recorded.   I was introduced by the university president at 44 minutes into the event (link to start of university president’s introduction). My 10-minute speech begins at 46 minutes (link to start of my speech ). The honorary degree conferral and citation starts at 1 hour, 4 minutes (link to start of honorary degree conferral).

Delivering the speech was not as difficult as I had imagined but then later standing there in front of so many people while the citation for my honorary degree was read out loud was surprisingly moving. Following the citation there was the hooding, a ritual from the middle ages that lives on in academia. Although I have proudly hooded many of my own graduating doctoral students over the years, this was my first experience getting hooded as I had moved across the country to start my first job before my own doctoral graduation in 1983.

A few days before the Claremont Graduate University commencement, the university issued a press release mentioning the Center for Institutional Courage. In addition, the Claremont Courier News published an article  (based on one published by the university) that noted that my work has not gone unchallenged and included a discussion of some of the types of resistance I have encountered over my career.  I was glad to have that resistance acknowledged.

I am deeply grateful to my students, colleagues, Courage, and Claremont Graduate University for the moving experience and for the opportunity to speak to new graduates about courage. 

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

A Scoping Review of Institutional Betrayal

In 2008 I started presenting the idea of institutional betrayal in lectures I was giving to various academic audiences.  It was an idea that I presented in the context of my work on betrayal trauma theory.  Several years later Carly Smith and I published two articles about institutional betrayal, one reporting on research and the other outlining the concept.  Since then, work on institutional betrayal has taken off – no only in my lab but in many other labs too.  That is one reason why at Courage we started a project of tracking research on institutional betrayal and institutional courage.  

For similar reasons a group of researchers from the laboratory of Senior Advisor Professor Anne DePrince, has recently published an important new peer-reviewed article titled: When institutions harm those who depend on them: A scoping review of institutional betrayal.

As DePrince noted in a recent Psychology Today post about this new review:

As a trauma researcher, I find that there’s a lot that’s important in this review—and a lot that is discouraging. For example, across studies with survivors of interpersonal trauma, institutional betrayal was common and linked with harm. This means that many survivors bear the costs of more than the original violence. They also bear the costs of institutional action and inaction.

In that discouraging picture, though, is a path forward. If institutions have the power to add to the harm of interpersonal trauma, they also have the power to play a role in healing. In the words of Dr. Freyd, they can show institutional courage.

The scoping review included articles published through 2022.  Since then many more articles about institutional betrayal and courage have been published.  But so many questions remain unanswered.  Thus, I end with this reminder:  The 2024 Institutional Courage Grant is open for applications. This grant is an opportunity for researchers interested in investigating institutional courage and institutional betrayal. The deadline for applications is April 1, 2024. More at: https://www.institutionalcourage.org/research-grant-program

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

An Update on our Newsletters

We are writing with an update about our newsletters, Courage in Action and the Courage Brief: we are adjusting the cadence of these publications.

The Courage Brief will now be published twice per year, once in the Spring and again in the Fall. Regarding Courage in Action, we are moving to a more flexible schedule. Updates will be sent when there are developments or news to share. Our goal is to ensure that each communication is timely and relevant, keeping our community informed about Courage’s most pressing issues and achievements.

We also want to remind you that the 2024 Institutional Courage Grant is open for applications. This grant is an opportunity for researchers dedicated to understanding and promoting institutional courage and institutional betrayal. The deadline for applications is April 1, 2024. For more information, please visit our Research Grant Program page.

Thank you for your continued support and engagement with our work. We look forward to sharing more with you throughout the year.

December 2023 Courage in Action

In a new essay, Courage Education Advisor Kathryn Becker-Blease and I explain the problem of institutional betrayal in education :

Institutions of higher education thrive when they meet the needs of their members. Yet when members of the university community speak up about harm they have experienced, institutions too often act in ways designed to protect the reputation and comfort of the institution and—worse—abusers within the institution, at the cost of those who have been harmed. This institutional betrayal is especially likely when administrators, staff, faculty, alums, trustees, and students care highly about a highly regarded university. As we have seen time and again, institutional betrayal does not protect the institution in the long run. Instead, the damage to institutions and their leaders when the truth about years-long abuse emerges continues to appear in the press.

And we also discuss the promise of institutional courage, calling upon leaders to be courageous in specific ways:

The antidote to institutional betrayal is institutional courage. Good leaders must personally care and be sure survivors feel they are cared for. Great leaders go beyond that; they institutionalize courage through specific, tangible actions. They create a culture through enduring practices, policies, models, and language that give members of the community the power to respond in ways that meet the courage of abuse survivors and whistle-blowers with the institutional courage to act. In this essay, we describe eleven key actions to promote institutional courage, with key examples of how higher education leaders have empowered their institutions to act with integrity and courage to protect their most vulnerable members for the long-term good of the institution.

Our essay, “Institutionalizing Courage to Create a Safer Community,” was just published in a new open access book, Handbook of Higher Education Leadership, edited by Ed Ray, former president of Oregon State University. You can read or download our chapter about institutionalizing courage here & you can read or download for free the whole handbook here.

We have learned so much about institutional betrayal and courage but much more remains to be discovered. Let’s make 2024 a year of enlightenment. If you are moved by the necessity of this research and wish to contribute to a new round of awards through our Institutional Courage Research Grant program, please consider supporting our grant program.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

November 2023 Courage in Action

In a thought-provoking conversation with Amy Polacko for Ms. Magazine, I explored the profound issue of institutional betrayal within the family court system. This type of betrayal can stem from various factors, including sexism, racism, greed, or simply ignorance. It is vital to educate those within the system, especially judges, to prevent such harmful outcomes.

Polacko quoted me in her Ms. Magazine article regarding the harm of institutional betrayal:

“Institutional betrayal can occur through ignorance, meaning you don’t have to wake up with evil thoughts to cause harm. You can cause harm because you’re ignorant and don’t understand interpersonal violence,” said Dr. Jennifer Freyd, founder and president of the Center for Institutional Courage, who has studied this subject for decades. “Betrayal is really damaging. It adds so much risk to people, causing them to get post-trauma symptoms to their physical health and mental health. It’s toxic.”

Polacko went on to note the gravity of the issue of harm, writing in Ms. Magazine:

This betrayal and trauma can even cause people to attempt suicide, Freyd said. Catherine Kassenoff, a New York mother and attorney who lost custody of her daughters said, in her last letters to friends, the family court system’s betrayal is what drove her to assisted suicide in May 2023. Kassenoff’s attorney admitted the court saw her as “unhinged” for being persistent in pursuit of her girls.

Research has indeed found a troubling association between institutional betrayal and an increased risk of suicide attempts, underlining the severe impact these experiences can have on individuals' well-being. This connection underscores the stakes involved in our work at the Center for Institutional Courage.

This is more than academic discourse; it's a matter of life and death. That's why the Center for Institutional Courage is committed to funding research that sheds light on both institutional betrayal and courage. However, to continue this crucial work, we rely on your support. If you are moved by the necessity of this research and wish to contribute to a new round of awards through our Institutional Courage Research Grant program, please consider supporting our grant program.

Read the full interview and join us in our mission to foster institutional courage.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

October 2023 Courage in Action

In a recent op-ed for USA Today, Dr. Sarah Harsey and I delved into the harmful tactic of DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) utilized by former MSU football coach Mel Tucker amidst sexual harassment allegations. This tactic, commonly employed by sexual misconduct perpetrators, obstructs meaningful discussions on sexual violence, further victimizes the aggrieved, and protects the perpetrator. Our piece highlighted the perils of DARVO, emphasizing the critical need for awareness and education to lessen its use and impact.

First, on the nature of DARVO:

DARVO... [is] an acronym that stands for deny, attack, reverse victim and offender. Perpetrators of wrongdoing – especially those who commit sexual misconduct – often use it to deflect blame and responsibility.

Second, on the implications of Tucker's actions:

Whether Tucker is guilty or not guilty of what Tracy has alleged, DARVO itself is harmful. It promotes victim blaming and prevents thoughtful discussions of sexual violence from happening. DARVO is a venomous response that seeks to silence victims, confuse observers and empower perpetrators.

And third, what we know from our research about DARVO and how to stop it:

[DARVO] is a common tactic that can influence people’s perceptions in ways that favor perpetrators. People who are exposed to a perpetrator’s DARVO responses are more likely to find victims less credible and perpetrators less responsible for the wrongdoing they committed.

...That’s why it’s important to identify and name DARVO when it happens. Research tells us that DARVO is less likely to influence observers’ perceptions when they are educated about this tactic. In other words, knowing about DARVO renders it a less effective tool.

We aspire to cultivate a culture that rebukes such toxic behaviors, fostering accountability and backing for victims.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

September 2023 Courage in Action

I am excited to tell you about the results of a new Courage project – one we have been working on for many months. The project, under the leadership Research Associate Aubrie Patterson, has involved the creation of two publicly accessible databases designed to track research on institutional betrayal and institutional courage. Although institutional betrayal and institutional courage are relatively new research domains, they have been growing so quickly that it has become a challenge to keep current on all that has been discovered. These databases are designed to help address that challenge as well as to provide some insight into how this field of research is developing.

One database focuses on academic articles and papers. This database currently contains over 180 items which are categorized based on the type of harm underlying the institutional response (e.g., sexual violence and racial discrimination) as well as the type of institution (e.g., education, healthcare, and the military). The other database focuses on the 20+ projects funded by the Center for Institutional Courage and is similarly structured.

What have we learned about institutional betrayal and courage? Where are the major gaps in our knowledge? Go to our new webpage, Tracking Research: Comprehensive Database of Studies on Institutional Betrayal & Courage, to learn more.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

August 2023 Courage in Action

I recently spoke with Dr. Caroline Heldman for The Representation Project webinar, “An Interview with Dr. Jennifer Freyd on Rape & Institutional Betrayal”. We discussed betrayal trauma, institutional betrayal, rape culture, DARVO, and institutional courage. 

Near the end of the webinar, Dr. Heldman asked me about the work of the Center for Institutional Courage:

Dr. Heldman: "What research or data do you wish existed that would help activists and scholars to advocate against sexual violence?

Dr. Freyd: "Right now a question that's been bothering me a lot is, why people are so defensive when they learn about an error that they or their organization has made. Both why do we have this strong defensive reaction, and how do we change it? Because if we respond defensively to finding out we've done something wrong, it's really hard to then go repair it; it tends to lead to DARVO and institutional betrayal and other things.... We're all human; we all make mistakes. We're all parts of organizations that make mistakes, that's just inevitable. What we do when we learn [about a mistake we have made], really really matters. So, I would like research that would help us do a better job at that, because I think it would get us very far."

Research and education can lead to profound change. A key step of institutional courage is to: “bear witness, be accountable, apologize.” Imagine if research revealed how to reduce defensive reactions from institutions and we could use that research to educate the world? 

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

July 2023 Courage in Action

In late 2021 the Center for Institutional Courage (Courage) hired its first Postdoctoral Research & Education Fellow, Dr. Sarah Harsey. Harsey has accomplished a great deal in her time at Courage, publishing numerous articles and op-eds with a focus on DARVO. She and I have also collected a large set of data designed to answer new DARVO questions and we have already presented some of our findings in conferences and shared with our readers via the Courage Brief and here through Courage in Action. We are currently working on writing several scientific articles and look forward to sharing more updates soon.

I personally wish we could keep Dr. Harsey for much longer, but she has received a faculty job offer she could not refuse. Harsey has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor of psychology position at Oregon State University-Cascades which she will start this September. Until then, she will remain Courage’s postdoctoral fellow.

I am excited for Dr. Harsey, and I am also proud that her fellowship experience at Courage was on the path to a position where she can continue her important research, including DARVO research, and work towards institutional courage for all. I asked Harsey to share her thoughts about her upcoming transition; she wrote: 

My postdoctoral fellowship at Courage has given me an incredible opportunity to explore critical social issues with real-world impacts, like sexual violence, through rigorous scientific research. The work I have done during my time at Courage helped equip me with the experience, perspective, and skills that OSU-Cascades was looking for. I am immensely grateful for Courage and I am proud to have been part of something that helps make the world a better place.

 Congratulations, Dr. Sarah Harsey!

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

June 2023 Courage in Action

Sexual harassment and assault – and the related institutional betrayal – can be found in every type of institution. One type that I know particularly well is sexual harassment in science. I know about this as a researcher, a member of national advisory committees, a mentor, a consultant to lawyers on legal cases, and from personal experience.

Fortunately there has been improvement over the past half century, but clearly there is so much work remaining. I shared my perspective on how far we’ve come and how institutional courage is a key solution moving forward in an important new article, Sexual Harassment Still Pervades Science, published this month in Scientific American.

A few excerpts from the Scientific American article with my quotes are here.  

First, on the topic of institutional betrayal:

But a bigger part of the problem is how universities and academic institutions approach sexual harassment—as a liability they need to protect themselves from, rather than something that they should be protecting their communities from. Trainings reflect that, says Jennifer Freyd, an expert on the psychology of sexual violence and founder of the Center for Institutional Courage.

“They’re not looking at the big picture of doing the right thing, and often not actually even reducing lawsuits,” she told us. She says this approach doesn’t work, and instead creates “a culture of distrust” for victims at the institution.

On the problem with mandatory reporting which so often produces institutional betrayal:

Another issue is mandatory reporting—where university policy dictates that an employee must report suspected harassment, even if the victim doesn’t want the report. . . . Freyd calls this a double victimization; the harasser or the person committing the assault is trying to take power away from their victim, and any policy forcing someone to report harassment when so much is at stake robs that victim of their agency.

On effective reporting policies and responses to disclosure:

According to Freyd, the proper response from anyone the victim tells about the experience includes: avoiding blame or invalidating the victim’s experience, attentive listening, and allowing the victim to remain in control of decision-making. Reporting should be confidential and outside a power structure that could negatively affect the victim, and the victim should have control over how the information she has provided is used.

On the harm of institutional betrayal:

When Havell reported a recent incident to her employer, she submitted a statement and affidavits that backed up her allegations from four witnesses who were colleagues. And just as Freyd described, Havell’s report caused her further trauma when university leadership gave that information to her harasser…

And finally, on the promise of policies and laws that nurture institutional courage:

The recently passed bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act is another legislative win. . . [T]he act appropriates $32.5 million to combat sex-based harassment in STEM. . .Freyd is “very pleased” about this progress: “It is based on evidence and forward looking, with a heavy emphasis on investing in research on sexual harassment—research that will pay off in the years ahead…. It is significant to see the reality of sexual harassment in STEM recognized in this way.”

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

May 2023 Courage in Action

For a decade, researchers have been exploring institutional betrayal and institutional courage—now, its popularity is surging. Most studies so far have examined education-related institutions and their responses to sexual violence. However, more research is now being carried out in other areas and situations.

A recent article in Nurse Leader, written by Katherine Brewer, explores institutional betrayal and courage in the nursing profession. Her article titled, “Institutional Courage: An Antidote to Institutional Betrayal and Broken Trust,” reviews a 2020 study. In this study, nurses filled out the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire for Health.  Brewer reveals the study’s finding: “nurses who experienced at least 1 act of betrayal on the part of the organization had higher levels of burnout, job dissatisfaction, and absenteeism.”

[Two nurses in Texas] reported a physician at their hospital for fraud and negligent medical practice. The nurses had witnessed the physician in question falsifying patient documentation, leading to patient safety concerns. They decided to submit an anonymous report to the state medical board; however, when the hospital discovered the nurses were the sources of the complaint, they retaliated against them.

Brewer notes that while institutional betrayal has highly negative consequences, there is a solution: institutional courage. She ends her article urging every institution we rely on, from nursing and education to policing, to embody institutional courage:

Organizations who can be dedicated to listening, responding, and acting to their members, and take conscious efforts to repair the wounds of the past, can be held up as models of courage.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

April 2023 Courage in Action

On April 15 I flew to Louisville Kentucky so I could deliver a plenary address at the 40th annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. My lecture was all about individual and institutional DARVO (Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim & Offender), a tactic that can be used to deflect accountability when confronted with a wrongdoing.

In my plenary I described findings from several of our scientific articles about DARVO – much of it led by Courage Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Sarah Harsey – which points to this key finding: no matter what happened in the past in a disputed allegation, the use of DARVO in the present is associated with harm.

Freyd & Harsey at the ISSTD meeting in Kentucky

Recently, Dr. Harsey and I have asked the research question: what do we know about who uses DARVO? In the April issue of the Courage Brief, Dr. Harsey partially answered this question when she wrote about a newly completed project that revealed those who use DARVO are more likely to have personality traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.

Dr. Harsey and I will present more of our new research in June in Denver, Colorado at the conference of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. There we will share our striking discovery that DARVO use is strongly associated with believing rape myths and perpetrating sexual harassment.

In August at the American Psychological Association 2023 Convention in Washington, DC, we will present data that explore whether DARVO responses are associated with culpability.

Why are we traveling around the country to share these new DARVO findings? Our prior research indicates that education about DARVO helps reduce its harmful impact. We plan to research ways to prevent DARVO as well as to heal its wounds. In the meantime, we will keep spreading the word as education is a key step of institutional courage and a core mission of the Center for Institutional Courage.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

March 2023 Courage in Action

You may already know about the popular podcast We Can Do Hard Things hosted by best-selling author Glennon Doyle. I was so pleased to learn that on a recent episode of the podcast, the frequent co-host, Amanda Doyle, accurately explained my concept of betrayal blindness. From the podcast transcript:

Amanda Doyle: Okay. So I came across this when I was thinking about you, and I find it fascinating. This woman, Dr. Jennifer Freyd, she discovered and named this phenomenon of betrayal blindness and this idea that you do not allow yourself to see the reality of what is going on. Because if you did, the information would threaten the relationship on which you most depend.

Amanda Doyle: So it’s really logical when you think about it. Some ways you can berate yourself like, how did I not accept that? But if the person who betrays you is someone on whom you depend, then you essentially need to ignore the betrayal. Because responding to it further threatens your attachment. And if you’re dependent on them, therefore-

Glennon Doyle: You’re right not to.

Betrayal blindness is a key concept in Courage’s Knowledge Base. It is the unawareness, not-knowing, and forgetting of betrayal traumas. Victims, perpetrators, and witnesses may display betrayal blindness, often without realizing they are doing so, in order to preserve the relationships, institutions, and social systems on which they depend. Betrayal blindness is part of why institutional betrayal persists.

Having betrayal blindness explained on We Can Do Hard Things is a step toward awareness and, consistent with our mission to generate and disseminate knowledge, an important step toward institutional courage.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

February 2023 Courage in Action

I am excited to share with you a new article from members of the Courage Team. In it we show how research can lead organizations toward institutional courage.

Led by Courage Board Member Dr. Jennifer Gómez, a group of Courage researchers and educators – including me - along with other colleagues, published an article: “Institutional Courage in Action: Racism, Sexual Violence, and Concrete Institutional Change.”

Our article describes a workshop event that happened in person on 18 March 2022 at Stanford University: the 2022 Center for Institutional Courage: Racism, Sexual Violence, and Institutional Courage Workshop. It was an exciting day in which 27 scholars and advocates discussed institutional courage in action with a focus on addressing institutionalized racism, inequities, and sexual violence. The first half of the day consisted of research presentations on institutional courage (Jennifer Freyd), the theory of racialized organizations (Victor Ray), and cultural betrayal trauma theory (Jennifer Gómez). The second half of the day applied this basic knowledge through a fireside chat discussion of institutional courage in action across inequalities and institutions: employing anti-racist approaches in research with Black families (Beverly Weathington), addressing campus sexual violence with male college athletes (Brenda Tracy), tackling salary inequity in academia (Jorge Delva), and addressing racism and sexism in the workplace using the small wins model (Lori Nishiura Mackenzie).

Our article discusses our learnings from this workshop – both the research and the concrete ideas. We acknowledge the difficulties in making profound change but we end on a note of hope:

“Finally, we discovered than even within these hardships, the fight for systemic change through institutional courage is absolutely worth it. One simple act of courage can have a ripple effect of radical change that transforms our world. Furthermore, the process of people coming together to be courageous is beautiful, even when the sought-after success remains unattainable. As Weathington stated, ‘When a flower doesn’t bloom, allow yourself to see the beauty of the bud.’ May we behold both the beauty of the struggling bud and the thriving flower within institutional courage.”

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage

January 2023 Courage in Action

Starting this month Courage has a revised communications schedule. The Courage Brief will be sent out on a quarterly basis. In addition, starting with this letter, each month I will plan to send you a short update, Courage in Action, highlighting a recent development.

In our recent Ms. Magazine article, Deny, Attack, Blame: The Prosecution of Women Reporting Rape, Courage Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Sarah Harsey and I discuss the problem of women who report sexual assault in good faith being investigated—and criminally charged—themselves.

In 2008, an 18-year-old Washington woman, referred to as Marie, reported to police that she had been raped by a man who broke into her apartment during the night and bound and gagged her (details here). The police didn’t believe her, and she was charged with making a false police report. Marie ultimately agreed to a plea deal that included probation, a fine, and forced her to attend counseling for lying.

It wasn’t until years later that police in Colorado, after searching a serial rapist’s home, found a photo of Marie bound and gagged in her apartment. If police had believed Marie in 2008, perhaps the additional rapes by the perpetrator would have been prevented.

Marie is not an isolated case. When rape victims are prosecuted after reporting their assaults, the criminal justice system commits a particularly egregious form of institutional betrayal by engaging in institutional DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender). The potential for this type of betrayal is often more than enough to discourage victims from seeking justice.

What can we do about this? Research indicates police officers tend to greatly overestimate how common false rape reports are and may misinterpret common victim responses as signs of dishonesty. We can avoid this error in judgment through education. Similarly, research suggests that knowing about DARVO reduces its negative impact. Courage is committed to education about these matters as a core part of our mission to foster institutional courage.

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage