Institutional Betrayal (IB) is a phenomenon in which “an institution causes harm to an individual who depends on or trusts the institution” (Smith & Freyd, 2014, p. 578). In other words, an individual experiences IB if the following two conditions are satisfied:
- The individual either depends on or trusts an institution; and
- The institution causes harm to the individual.
The harm that the institution causes to the individual can be either an isolated commission (e.g., a government cover-up of administrator wrong doing, a punishing response to report of sexual assault), an isolated omission (e.g., a failure to notify pregnant worker of FMLA protection, a failure to respond to report of sexual assault), a systematic commission (e.g., requiring extra hours without compensation, posting sexually violent imagery in dorms) or a systemic omission (e.g., not providing sick leave to workers, lack of civil rights for oppressed groups) (p. 579).
IB is negatively associated with physical (e.g., bodily pain, physical illness symptoms, physical dysfunction, social dysfunction) and psychological (e.g., anxious symptoms, depressive symptoms, dissociation, post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] symptoms) health (Christl et al., 2024, pp. 2806-2807). Because IB is positively associated with negative views of oneself, others and the world (p. 2807), it is possible that these negative views explain, at least in part, the negative association between IB and psychological health.
Given the prevalence of IB in educational, military and other (e.g., healthcare, legal, religious) settings (Christl et al., 2024, pp. 2804-2805), and the dearth of evidence-based interventions (p. 2809), this new area of research can benefit from “studying institutional betrayal across diverse settings to understand harm as well as identify actions that institutions can take to minimise additional harm and support their community members” (p. 2811).
Christl, M. E., Pham, K. C. T., Rosenthal, A., & DePrince, A. P. (2024). When institutions harm those who depend on them: A scoping review of institutional betrayal. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 25(4), 2797-2813.
Smith, C. P., & Freyd, J. J. (2014). Institutional betrayal. American psychologist, 69(6), 575.