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