2024 Grants

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

Emma Freetly Porter & Sarah Horwitz, Division of Counseling Psychology, Graduate School of Education, Fordham University

While there is a substantial body of literature exploring the impact of interpersonal violence (IPV) on university campuses for domestic students, there is a dearth of studies focusing on international students. This is troubling because in addition to the impact of violence itself, international students often face compounding stressors, such as discrimination and academic stresses. Past research shows that institutional betrayal (IB), which includes the harmful actions and/or inactions of institutions to respond adequately to these instances of violence, can compound negative outcomes for survivors. While IB has been studied among domestic students, no known studies have examined it with international students. Therefore, the present study is a descriptive and exploratory study seeking to understand IB and associated variables among international students exposed to IPV. In the present study, approximately 250 international students will be recruited to participate in a survey that will capture the experiences of international students on a variety of variables, including institutional betrayal, well-being, posttraumatic stress disorder, social support, and racial discrimination. Participants will also be asked whether they reported instances of violence to their institution, and barriers to reporting will be explored using thematic analysis. Multivariate regression procedures will be used to explore the relationships between key study variables. A follow-up portion of the study will employ qualitative procedures to explore these international student survivors’ experiences with IPV and IB using in-depth interviews. 

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

 Geneece Goertzen and  Dr. Gaynor Yancey, DSW, MSW, MRE, Garland School of Social Work, Baylor University

This project seeks to understand the association between Institutional Betrayal (IB) and Institutional Courage (IC), specifically as it relates to the church and survivors of domestic violence. How this impacts their post-traumatic growth is of special consideration. Survivors often cling to their faith during the abuse, only to experience mixed responses from their faith communities when disclosing that abuse. The desired outcomes of this research are to reduce IB and encourage churches to embrace IC and engage in institutional change. Informing congregations of the importance of education and highlighting the need for support measures will strengthen assistance for survivors.

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

 Brandon Alston, Department of Sociology, Ohio State University

Several scholars have advanced an understanding of contemporary policing patterns as disproportionately racially motivated. However, while scholars understand disproportionate involuntary police contacts as a racialized phenomenon, they are very rarely considered a racialized, gendered, and sexualized phenomenon. My research investigates how Black men experience surveillance techniques in sexualized ways across poor Black neighborhoods and prisons. These techniques often manifest as sexual violence, but scholars often have few insights into how sexual violence emerges during individuals’ contact with criminal legal actors. Thus, this project investigates how legal actors use surveillance within low-income Black neighborhoods and prisons to create sexual regulation and dynamics. 

Institutional Norms about Prioritizing Students’ Needs Legitimize Contrapower Harassment

Cynthia S. Levine, Department of Psychology, University of Washington

Women college/university faculty members are more likely than men to experience contrapower harassment, which is harassment from people with less formal power (e.g., students) against people with more formal power (e.g., professors). Previous research has focused on the characteristics of students that drive these disparities, but the proposed research uses an institutional betrayal framework to study institutions’ role. An experiment with a student sample and a survey of college/university professors will test whether colleges’/universities’ messages that faculty members should prioritize students’ needs (e.g., proactively check in, be available when needed) increase contrapower harassment against women and exacerbate its negative effects. 

 Linking Veterans who Experience Intimate Partner Violence to Civil Legal Assistance

Sonia Rupcic, Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Bedford VA Medical Center, Brown University

Veterans Affairs (VA) has the potential to be at the vanguard of coordinating civil legal aid for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Veterans are eligible for civil legal aid through a patchwork of legal clinics across the country. Through semi-structured interviews with 15 Veterans recruited as part of a larger survey study and 10 Veterans recruited from VA-based legal clinics, this study sheds light on whether and how Veterans with civil legal needs arising from IPV utilize VA-coordinated legal aid. This study is a proactive step at aligning Veteran medical-legal services with principles of institutional courage.

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

Leanna Papp & Julia O'Connor, University of Central Florida

One in five survivors of campus sexual violence feel betrayed by Greek organizations. Research on campus sexual violence in relation to Greek membership has primarily focused on historically white organizations resulting in a dearth of knowledge about the policies and practices of culturally-specific sororities. The current study aims to: 1) investigate members’ experiences and perceptions of institutional betrayal and courage within culturally-specific sororities at a Hispanic-Serving Institution, and 2) examine how cultural betrayal manifests for survivors, who may experience pressure to protect the image of both their ethnic group and Greek life.

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

Rebecca Howard Valdivia, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Reducing institutional betrayal (IB) and enhancing institutional support (IS) are essential components of campus sexual assault reform. In this project, I will interview queer (LGBTQ+) student survivors of color—who experience elevated rates of campus sexual assault and IB—to inform a deeper understanding of how IB and IS manifest, and, in turn, tangible recommendations for campus reform. Specifically, I will address two research aims: 1) explicate how and from whom queer student survivors of color experience IB and IS, and 2) identify how systems of oppression manifest and coalesce within experiences of IB and IS.

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

Elisabeth Arnold Ingram, Lisa Beijan, & John Romans, Oklahoma State University

This research investigates the impact of Institutional Betrayal and DARVO on survivors of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse. Participants will complete surveys measuring institutional betrayal (IBQ), DARVO experiences, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PCL-5), dissociation (DES-II), and the neuroception of psychological safety (NPSS). By examining these relationships, the research seeks to highlight the compounded trauma of both abuse and loss of community support. The findings will inform mental health counselors, guide public policy, and promote Institutional Courage™ in ecclesial and civil institutions. This study addresses a gap in the literature by quantitatively analyzing these factors in the context of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse.

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

Aubrie Patterson & Laura Noll, Northern Arizona University

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) prevalence in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) has not been documented to our knowledge, nor has institutional betrayal in an LDS context. Furthermore, we suspect that religious CSA victims may experience a unique form of betrayal trauma which has not yet been operationalized: religious betrayal. With this mixed-methods study, we will a) document CSA prevalence amongst adults who are current or former LDS Church members, b) describe their experiences with institutional betrayal, and c) operationalize religious betrayal, including how it differs from institutional betrayal in a religious context.

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

 Molly Driessen, Social Work Department, Providence College, and Sarah Nightingale, Eastern Connecticut State University

The purpose of this participatory action research project is to investigate how colleges in the United States (U.S) can actively engage in courageous decisions and programs from the perspective of survivors. Researchers will work collaboratively with a Survivor Advisory Board comprised of five individuals who have experienced campus-based sexual violence. Together, they will develop and administer a national mixed-methods study focused on institutional courage, justice, and healing within the organizational context. The Advisory Board and co-principal investigators will also work together to use findings to inform the knowledge base and create action that benefits college students in the U.S. 

2022 Grants

Reluctant to Seek Help: Developing a framework of the impact of institutional betrayal by the legal system among Black women who are victims/survivors of intimate partner violence 

Angie Hattery, Earl Smith, Patricia Sloane-White, Emerald Christopher-Byrd
Center for the Study & Prevention of Gender-Based Violence, University of Delaware

This project explores factors--including historical trauma and individual experiences with institutional betrayal-- that prevent abused Black women from seeking help from legal-system institutions (both criminal and civil) when they experience intimate partner violence. 

Specifically, this study will design and test a legal system (criminal and civil) sub-scale of the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire (IBQ). Data gathered from this study will be used to inform victim/survivor centered policies and practices with the aim of reducing the institutional harm experienced by abused women with marginalized identities.

Cultivating Institutional Courage through the MSU Climate & Response Process

Carrie Moylan & Jacob Nason
Michigan State University

Michigan State University’s Prevention, Outreach, and Education Department operates a novel intervention to address the harms of sexual harassment and prevent future incidents. The model recognizes that sexual harassment negatively impacts employees beyond those directly involved in incidents. Yet our traditional investigation and response systems typically are not prepared to address these wider harms. In this project, we aim to a) identify and describe how employees experience toxic workplace climates after harassment or other direct harms, and b) explore whether and how this intervention might operationalize institutional courage, counteract the harms of institutional betrayal, and improve workplace climate and well-being.

Public Interest Asylum Lawyering in a Context of Institutional Betrayal

Catherine L. Crooke
UCLA

This dissertation project is grounded in ongoing ethnographic fieldwork among public interest immigration lawyers who provide legal assistance to asylum seekers in southern California and at the U.S.-Mexico border. The project aims to understand how U.S. asylum attorneys witness and directly experience institutional betrayal in the course of their day-to-day professional practices. It also seeks to examine how attorneys push for institutional courage even as U.S. government actors engage in institutional DARVO behavior by demonizing, criminalizing, and scapegoating immigrants. More broadly, the project asks: How can insider actors pursue justice within unjust institutional systems? 

Exploring the Impact of Timely Warnings on Student Experiences, Perceptions, and Behavior

Chris Linder, Kevin Coe, Heather Melton, Jessie Richards
University of Utah

The Clery Act requires campus administrators to issue timely warnings when immediate safety concerns are present. Survivors report being retraumatized by timely warnings, students of color report experiencing increased hostility on campus after timely warnings go out, and rates of crime have not changed since Clery was implemented. Using institutional betrayal (Smith & Freyd, 2013; 2014) as a theoretical framework and mixed methods case study as a methodology, we will build and execute a research protocol for exploring the impact of sexual violence timely warnings on college students’ experiences and behavior.

De-Siloing Sexual Harassment Prevention and Discrimination Intervention in Higher Education

Elizabeth Hutchison, M. Gabriela Torres, Nelia Viveiros
The University of New Mexico, Wheaton College, Temple University

This research examines how “non-discrimination practitioners” (individuals employed in DEI, EEO, HR, Equity  or Title IX offices) view the competing and sometimes contradictory demands of sexual harassment and other discriminatory misconduct prevention, mitigation and/or intervention. Through a survey and structured interviews, the project will show how non-discrimination practitioners view their work to implement university policies, revealing the frameworks and constraints under which they must operate, as well as unintended outcomes of how universities typically enforce policies against sexual misconduct and other forms of discrimination.  We posit that the structural separation of sexual misconduct and discrimination response(s) within universities inhibits effective institutional handling of complaints, and expect to offer tools and recommendations for de-siloing that will improve how higher education institutions respond to the intersectionality of harm. 

A Qualitative Exploration of Law Enforcement Practices and Norms that Foster Betrayal and Courage

Lori Hoggard, Vanessa Volpe
Rutgers University-New Brunswick and North Carolina State University

Despite composing only 12.4% of the U.S. population, African Americans are approximately 2.8 to 3.5 times more likely than White Americans to be killed by police officers while unarmed. To systematically disrupt this institutional betrayal at the hands of police, institutional courage—the antidote to institutional betrayal—is required on the part of law enforcement practitioners. We will conduct semi-structured interviews with police leadership to determine how police leadership can engage in institutional courage within their police agency and with the local African American community they serve. This work is the necessary beginning to disrupting law enforcement’s institutional betrayal.

Surviving Against the Grain: Gender-Diverse Youth Grappling with Identity, Courage, & Betrayal

Richard A. Brandon-Friedman, Tayon Swafford
Indiana University

Gender-diverse youth (GDY) experience high rates of institutional betrayal within educational environments, contributing to increased psychosocial concerns. This includes harassment by peers and professionals, failures to address gender identity/expression-based bullying, removal of support symbols such as pride flags, discussions of banning books on gender identity, and silencing of discussions about gender identity/expression. Alternatively, courageous resistance to harmful actions and policies can enhance GDYs’ well-being through a solidified sense of self, community connection, and the disruption of oppressive systems. This research will highlight the negative impact of educational institutions' actions while identifying ways to empower GDY to move such beyond betrayal.

Building Survivor-Centered Concepts of Institutional Courage for Action

Sarah Hurtado, Anne DePrince, Julia Dmitrieva
University of Denver

To date, research has revealed the many manifestations of institutional betrayal and its consequences, and much institutional action has been driven by compliance prescriptions as opposed to survivor-centered and social justice oriented approaches. This project brings together an interdisciplinary research team to develop an actionable conceptualization of institutional courage in the higher education setting, using concept mapping, a mixed methods approach with strong feminist and survivor-centered roots, to address the following questions: How do survivors conceptualize institutional courage to prevent and respond to sexual violence? How can their conceptualizations inform specific courageous institutional actions?

2021 Grants

Title IX Practitioners’ Experiences and Perspectives of Mandatory Reporting for Sexual Violence: An Examination of Institutional Practices that Foster Betrayal and Courage

Kathryn Holland, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Rachael Goodman-Williams, Wichita State University

"Sexual violence is a serious threat within universities, which policymakers have attempted to address through mandatory reporting, policies requiring employees to report all sexual violence to university officials. Most universities designate nearly all employees as mandatory reporters who must report regardless of the survivors’ wishes. Such policies can decrease reports and cause further harm, fostering institutional betrayal. However, alternative reporting policies that center survivors can foster institutional courage. This project will provide essential data regarding mandatory reporting policies within university Title IX Offices and determine predictors of Title IX practitioners’ perceptions of reporting practices that foster institutional betrayal and courage."

Institutional betrayal and institutional DARVO in response to systemic oppression

Marina Rosenthal, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Kathryn LaBore, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

"Prior research has emphasized the role that perpetrator behavior (e.g., DARVO) and institutional response (Institutional Betrayal–IB) play in mitigating or exacerbating sequelae after a traumatic incident, particularly sexual assault. This research project extends the contexts of IB and DARVO to include institutional responses to systemic oppression. This project will develop the Institutional Betrayal-Systematic Oppression Scale (IB-SOS) and Institution DARVO Questionnaire (IDQ). We will also explore the inter-relationships between IB-SOS, IDQ, institutional anti-oppression work and university students’ belonging. Special attention will be paid to the extent to which institutional responses (IB-SOS/IDQ) moderate the relationship between anti-oppression work and student belongingness."

The Future of Carceral Universities

Jessica Hatrick, University of Southern California

"This research project is looking to answer the question: how do abolitionist student activists believe the U.S. university - which is founded and maintained through carceral settler colonial racial capitalism - can engage in institutional courage to decarcerate? This project uses grounded theory and feminist in-depth interviewing with twenty current and former abolitionist student activists to explore how students understand the carceral state to have shaped the university, and what changes they believe the university must undergo to decarcerate itself."

Investigating the effects of institutional betrayal in response to meditation-related harms 

Willoughby Britton, Brown University Medical School

"While research has documented that meditation-related adverse effects occur and can result in enduring impairment, many meditators have reported that helping professions—including clinicians, meditation teachers, and wellness apps—have responded to their claims of harm with denial, victim-blaming and other punitive responses. The current project aims to assess the nature and frequency of institutional betrayal and negative social responses to disclosure of meditation-related harms and to whether responses are associated with clinical and trauma-related symptom severity. Empirically demonstrating that common default responses to disclosure are occurring is the first step to promoting institutional accountability and providing concrete steps for rectification."

School-based Victimization and Institutional Betrayal Among LGBTQ Adolescents: Examining the Association with Suicidality

Mavis Gallo, University of Oregon

"At disproportionate risk for victimization, discrimination, and suicidality are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Exposure to school-based victimization is particularly harmful, with prior research suggesting that attending school may be a source of additional vulnerability to violence for LGBTQ youth. There is limited research examining the mechanisms in which institutions may harm LGBTQ youth. The aim of the proposed study is to investigate the relationship between school-based victimization, institutional betrayal, and suicidality among LGBTQ youth. As such, we speculate that LGBTQ youth are at an increased risk for both exposure to institutional betrayal and its adverse effects."

Childbirth Choices

Meghan Warner, Stanford University

"This dissertation project, which uses interview, observation, and diary data, seeks to expand a sociological approach to studying pregnancy and childbirth. During pregnancy, women can choose to have certain procedures and tests done. Women also face choices for the birthing process, including birthplace setting, mode of birth, people present, types of pain mitigation, procedures, and tests. They may plan some or all of these aspects before birth. I ask: How do women form their birth preferences, what role do these preferences play in birth, and how do they shape women’s response post-birth? How does class and race shape these preferences, birth experiences, and response post-birth?"

Dependence on Institutions and Wellbeing in the Context of Institutional Betrayal

May Ly, University of Regina
Bridget Klest, University of Regina

"Research on the unique aspects of person-institution relationships is critical to improving services and supports for those who rely on institutions. This study will examine how an individual’s level of dependence on an institution impacts their wellbeing when institutional betrayal (IB) occurs. Participants from three groups who have experienced IB associated with different settings (healthcare, victim support, academic) will complete an online survey about their experience of IB, dependence on the institution, and personal wellbeing. It is anticipated that those with higher levels of dependence on an institution will report greater negative impacts to their wellbeing when IB occurs."

“Let us be the healing of the wound”: Child Welfare System-Impacted Families and Mental Health

Katherine Maldonado, UC Santa Barbara

"Public health scholars and practitioners are interested in child welfare research due to the large push to identify child maltreatment and neglect from a comprehensive health perspective. This study examines how mothers experience institutional violence and trauma via the child welfare system, and how the violence affects their mental health. I propose an intersectional qualitative approach; using photo elicitation life history interviews with mothers from Southern California who have been involved with child protective services (CPS). In an era of family separation, it is crucial that child welfare policy and health care providers provide effective approaches to the long term mental health needs of criminalized mothers and children."

Surviving racism from womb to cradle: Assessing parent of color NICU experience in Oregon

Leticia Garcia, University of Oregon

"Understanding parent of color NICU experiences is critical to inform and inspire advocacy efforts that hold medical institutions responsible for providing effective family- centered, trauma-informed and culturally-informed care. The aim of this feminist participatory action research project is to better understand how institutional and medical racism shape the postpartum period in ways that either buffer adversity or confer risk for families of color with premature infants. It utilizes qualitative methods that are designed to be both process-oriented and outcome focused in order to support advocacy outcomes while also centering the racialized trauma of participants in ways that are therapeutic and beneficial to them in the process. Specifically, it asks: How does racism at multiple scales affect parent of color NICU experience? What insights do their experiences reveal about medical institutional betrayal? How can medical institutions leverage their power to support and empower families of color?"

Supporting Survivors in the Workplace: A Qualitative Exploration of Workplace Response to Sexual Assault Disclosure

Katherine Lorenz, California State University Northridge
Erin O'Callaghan, University of Illinois at Chicago
Veronica Shepp, University of Illinois at Chicago

"Sexual violence researchers have spent decades examining how institutions like the legal system and the agents within the institution respond to sexual assault survivors, but little research has explored the workplace as an institution for support or betrayal. We will conduct qualitative interviews with sexual assault survivors to understand pathways to workplace disclosure and how workplaces are responding to sexual assault survivors in both policy and social support. Our findings will be used to develop implications for workplace policy and recommendations for improving social reactions to disclosure in the workplace based on survivors’ needs."

A Framework for Identifying and Measuring Institutional Courage and Institutional Betrayal within Immigration Court

Jamie Kynn, Michigan State University
Hannah Boyke, Michigan State University

"Our project aims to examine institutional courage and institutional betrayal in immigration court from the perspectives of lawyers and law students representing migrants in removal proceedings. We conceptualize the institution of immigration court broadly to encompass both the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), which oversees immigration court proceedings, as well as the organizations, including non-profits, universities, and legal firms, providing legal representation to migrants undergoing removal proceedings. Our qualitative case study uses the Detroit Immigration Court in Detroit, Michigan as the case for examining institutional courage and institutional betrayal."

Compelled Disclosure Policies in Higher Education: Creating More Accountable, Effective, and Equitable Institutions

Sally M. Hage, Springfield College
Mary Iellamo, Springfield College

"Compelled disclosure on college campuses impacts survivor autonomy due to required disclosure of sexual misconduct by mandated reporters without consent of student reporters. This study uses mixed methods to explore assumptions and perceptions of compelled disclosure policies, using a random sample of diverse psychology faculty. Measures include cross-sectional surveys and interviews to understand participants’ experiences of institutional courage or betrayal associated with experiences reporting. The study compares psychology faculty with Title IX coordinators’ perspectives of acceptability of a taxonomy of survivor-centered alternatives to compelled disclosure policies.  Findings of the current study will aid in developing survivor-centered reporting policies across institutions."

The Deadly Consequences of DARVO (Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender) Tactics in Family Court

Elizabeth Tomsich, University of California, Davis

"This study seeks to identify themes in California family court custodial/visitation practices that resulted in institutional failure by the state to protect the best interests and safety of a child in the context of custody litigation. The study will review family court custodial cases in California between 2008-2021 where a child was killed by a parent or caretaker with a history of family or intimate partner violence (IPV) who was permitted contact with the child over the objection of a non-abusive, protective parent. In addition, we will conduct interviews with surviving protective parents and family members."

Ground-Truthing en el Valle de San Joaquín: A Mixed Methods Study on Rural Latinx Spatiality and College (In)opportunity

Mayra Puente, University of California, San Diego

"This study examined the intersections of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and rural space on the college (in)opportunities of rural Latinx students from California’s San Joaquin Valley. Drawing on Latino Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Spatial Analysis, this study interrogated the sociospatial structures that shaped students’ decision-making processes about whether and where to attend college. This study employed mixed methods research to assess the pervasiveness of limited college opportunities for rural Latinx students using GIS tools and Chicana/Latina feminist methods. The overall purpose was to unearth the racial and spatial injustices faced by rural Latinx students in pursuit of higher education."

Double Jeopardy: Asian Students’ Experiences of Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment and Xenophobia during COVID-19

Jianchao Lai, UCLA
Jennifer Wagman, UCLA
Eunhee Park, UCLA

"Since the COVID-19 pandemic, violence targeting the Asian population has been gaining significant public attention. However, the intersectionality of racism, sexism, and xenophobia and its impact on the Asian population’s sexual violence experience remains understudied. This mixed-method project will collect data through survey and semi-structured interviews to understand the experience of sexual violence and sexual harassment in the context of anti-Asian racism and xenophobia among Asian college students in California. This innovative project aims to generate evidence to inform culturally appropriate, campus-based services for the Asian students who experience sexual violence and sexual harassment. "