Institutions are the building blocks of a civil society

Dear Friends of Courage,

Institutions are the building blocks of a civil society. They are crucial to our well-being. We depend on our government, police, and hospitals to protect our lives. These words appeared in 2020 on the website of the Center for Institutional Courage and they are still there.

For the past weeks I have thought a lot about these words and what they suggest about how to support healthy institutions, the building blocks of our democracy.  I keep learning that:

1. Tyranny depends on learned helplessness and thus apathy becomes collusion.

2. Thoughtful acts in support of institutional courage are effective and without them we are sunk.

3. Sustainable courage involves moderating exposure to distressing news, celebrating success, and finding joy.

There are so many ways to sustainably support institutional courage. Two things everyone can do:

1. Participate in democracy. Let your elected representatives know what you think and feel.  It does not take much time and it makes a difference.

2. Celebrate acts of individual and institutional courage. Thank the courageous actors and share the news.

The Center for Institutional Courage exists to conduct transformative research and education about institutional betrayal and how to counter it through institutional courage. As part of that effort we track new research on these topics and catalog that research on our tracking research page.  We have recently updated the database, adding over 100 new articles published through December 2024.  Our searchable data base allows visitors to find articles with various attributes – for example, articles focusing on health care or articles using qualitative methods, etc.  

I also want to let you know about a new short article that was recently published in MedicalNewsToday: “What to know about institutional betrayal.” This readable article includes discussion of government institutional betrayal and institutional courage.  I also wanted to alert you to a new podcast episode about DARVO:  Unpacking DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender, EP #5 of the Disabuse Podcast with Jennifer Freyd. (Additional related podcasts here.) 

I hope you keep learning, keep engaged in a sustainable way, and keep nurturing institutional courage. 

All the best,

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