Institutional Betrayal: Who Is Most Vulnerable?

Institutional betrayal occurs when, following sexual victimization, institutions create hostile environments which normalize sexual violence, make it difficult to report the experience, mishandle the complaint, attempt to cover up the experience, or retaliate against survivors. These responses are n...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interpersonal violence 2021-06, Vol.36 (11-12), p.5036-5054
Main Authors: Pinciotti, Caitlin M., Orcutt, Holly K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Health problems
Heterosexuality
Mental depression
Physical Health
Post traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Psychological distress
Risk factors
Sex crimes
Sexual behavior
Sexual disorders
Survivor
Victimization
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Summary:Institutional betrayal occurs when, following sexual victimization, institutions create hostile environments which normalize sexual violence, make it difficult to report the experience, mishandle the complaint, attempt to cover up the experience, or retaliate against survivors. These responses are not uncommon and have been linked to adverse survivor outcomes such as dissociation, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, poorer physical health, and depression, yet little is known about which survivors are most at risk for experiencing institutional betrayal. Using a sample of 404 sexual assault survivors recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, the current study employed logistic regression to identify risk factors for institutional betrayal. The findings indicate that institutional betrayal is more likely to be reported by survivors who identify as heterosexual, were older at the time of the assault, and endorse more severe PTSD symptoms yet, unexpectedly, less severe distress severity. Gender, race, assault characteristics, and disclosure tendencies did not significantly predict institutional betrayal risk. Although some relationships may be bidirectional, the results suggest that survivors already at risk for some negative post-assault outcomes may be particularly at risk for institutional betrayal.
ISSN:0886-2605
1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/0886260518802850