Examining the Institutional Betrayal Experiences of Black & Hispanic Survivors of IPV in the Legal System

• In Event: Trauma and Healing: Examining Public Opinion and Policy Responses to Violence

Abstract

Building on existing research of institutional betrayal on college campuses (Rosenthal et al., 2016; Smith & Freyd, 2013; Smith et al., 2016) and health care settings (Smith, 2017), we analyze experiences of institutional betrayal among survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in a new context: the criminal and civil legal system. Institutional betrayal refers to the harm that survivors experience when they report their abuse or seek help from an institution in which they depend on. Prior research has largely focused on the betrayal experiences of survivors of sexual violence and have found that institutional betrayal decreases trust in and engagement with institutions (Smith, 2017) and is associated with negative psychological outcomes (Smith et al., 2016). Using data from surveys with Black and Hispanic survivors of IPV, we explore how the criminal and civil legal systems fail to address IPV, and in some cases, escalate harm for survivors and lead to experiences of betrayal. Given that prior institutional betrayal work primarily focuses on sexual violence within higher education and the health care system, we offer recommendations for improving the institutional betrayal measure to better understand the betrayal experiences of IPV survivors in the criminal and civil legal systems.

Authors

• Maria Paula Mendoza, University of Delaware

• Katie Mirance, University of Delaware

• Emma Freetly Porter, Fordham University

• Angela Hattery, University of Delaware