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