Dangerous Safe Havens

Institutional Betrayal Exacerbates Sexual Trauma

Bibliographic Data

ID23344481
AuthorsCarly P Smith (0000-0003-1980-0836, University of Oregon, corresponding author), Jennifer J Freyd (0000-0002-9650-9199, Department of Psychology University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon USA)
Year2013
Volume26
Issue1
Pages119-124
Publication date2013-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Traumatic Stress (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0894-9867 • E-ISSN: 1573-6598
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/jts.21778
PMID23417879
OpenAlexW1904168428
LanguageEN
Citations received161
References cited37

Research has documented the profound negative impact of betrayal within experiences of interpersonal trauma such as sexual assault (Freyd, 1994, 1996; Freyd, DePrince, & Gleaves, 2007). In the current study of college women ( N = 345, 79% Caucasian; mean age = 19.69 years, SD = 2.55), we examined whether institutional failure to prevent sexual assault or respond supportively when it occurs may similarly exacerbate posttraumatic symptomatology—what we call “institutional betrayal.” Almost half (47%) of the women reported at least one coercive sexual experience and another 21% reported no coercion, but at least one unwanted sexual experience (total reporting unwanted sexual experiences, N = 233). Institutional betrayal (e.g., creating an environment where these experiences seemed more likely, making it difficult to report these experiences) was reported across different unwanted sexual experiences (47% and 45% of women reporting coercion and no coercion, respectively). Those women who reported institutional betrayal surrounding their unwanted sexual experience reported increased levels of anxiety ( R 2 = .10), trauma‐specific sexual symptoms ( R 2 = .17), dissociation ( R 2 = .11), and problematic sexual functioning ( R 2 = .12). These results suggest that institutions have the power to cause additional harm to assault survivors.

Betrayal · Coercion (linguistics) · Harm · Interpersonal communication · Medical emergency · Poison control · Psychiatry · Sexual coercion · Suicide prevention · Child Abuse and Trauma · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research · Psychology · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub