The courage to study what we wish did not exist

The Insidiousness of Institutional Betrayal: An Ecological Systematic Review of Campus Sexual Violence Response Literature

Recently, post-secondary institutions have been under increased public and academic scrutiny regarding their ability to prevent and respond to instances of campus sexual violence. Emerging research has explored institutional betrayal (IB), which is a theoretical framework that states that actions and inactions on the part of the institution can cause further harm to survivors of violence. The goals of this review were, using an ecological systems lens, to identify what specific behaviors, policies, responses, and other factors constitute IB or institutional support (IS) as defined by the existing literature. A search of 16 databases across 8 disciplines led to the identification of 100 articles that mentioned either IB or IS verbatim. Factors that can be categorized as IB and IS were identified across nine levels: (1) the individual level, (2) the interpersonal level, (3) within institutional spaces, (4) within institutional procedures, (5) within institutional policies, (6) at the institutional structural level, (7) at the institutional culture level, (8) at a government and public policy level, and (9) within greater societal cultural values and established social norms. IB itself manifests across all levels of the institution and is, in fact, quite insidious-it is largely invisible and deeply rooted in systemic oppression, woven into the structure of institutions of higher education. IB remains a looming, almost inevitable outcome of the structural violence that occurs in post-secondary settings. Yet, IS and the related concept of institutional courage are emerging fields of study that pose important implications for institutional change.

Collusion, torture, and inequality: Understanding the actions of the American Psychological Association as institutional betrayal

The Hoffman Report (Hoffman et al., 2015) documented devastating information about the American Psychological Association (APA) and the profession of psychology in the United States, prompting a public apology and a formal commitment by APA to correct its mistakes (APA, 2015). In the current article, we utilize betrayal trauma theory (Freyd, 1997), including betrayal blindness (e.g., Freyd, 1996; Tang, 2015) and institutional betrayal (Smith & Freyd, 2014b), to understand and learn from APA's behaviors. We further situate this discussion in the context of inequality, both within APA and in American society generally. We detail how the impact of APA's institutional betrayals extended beyond the organization, its members, and the psychology profession, highlighting the potential for disproportionate harm to minorities, including those who were tortured; Muslims, Middle Easterners, Afghans, and non-Americans who were not tortured; and other minority individuals (Gómez, 2015d). Acknowledging, understanding, and addressing its institutional betrayals offers APA the opportunity to take meaningful corrective and preventive measures. We propose several institutional reparations, including making concrete changes with transparency and conducting self-assessments to inform further needed changes (Freyd & Birrell, 2013). By engaging in institutional courage, APA has the potential to grow into an ethical governing body that fulfills its mission to "advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives" (APA, 2016).