Jennifer Freyd Kevin Webb Institutional Trauma Betrayal and Courage

Jennifer Joy Freyd researcher, author, educator, and speaker. Freyd is an extensively published scholar who is best known for her theories of betrayal trauma, DARVO, institutional betrayal, and institutional courage.

Freyd is the Founder and President of the Center for Institutional Courage, Professor Emerit[ of Psychology at the University of Oregon, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine,[Faculty Fellow at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Affiliated Faculty, Women's Leadership Lab, Stanford University, and principal investigator of the Freyd Dynamics Lab.

Betrayal trauma Earlier this year, she settled a lawsuit she filed against the University of Oregon after learning that the university was paying her $18,000 less per year than male colleagues closest in rank to her. The university agreed to pay her $350,000 to cover her claims for damages and her attorneys’ fees and also agreed to donate $100,000 to the Center for Institutional Courage.

Kevin Webb is a higher education training professional specializing in Title IX compliance and gender-based violence prevention, as well as equity and inclusion. Kevin has developed, implemented, and facilitated in-person and online training and education programs for students, faculty, and staff at large public and private universities, and produced a variety of education and awareness events around sexual assault and relationship violence prevention in collaboration with campus and community partners. Kevin has developed content for online Title IX/sexual misconduct training implemented by a cross section of American colleges and universities, and provided sexual harassment training for private organizations. Kevin has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Organizational Behavior and Management from Brown University, where he served as a teaching assistant in sociology courses dealing with issues of race and social justice, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the Baruch College School of Public Affairs, CUNY.

In the news:
Institutional betrayal
Three graduate students file sexual harassment suit against prominent Harvard anthropology professor (Boston Globe)

DARVO
A high-flying German media giant is ahead on digital media but seems stuck in the past when it comes to the workplace and deal-making. Axel Springer (NYTimes)

Women spoke up, men cried conspiracy: inside Axel Springer’s #MeToo moment (Financial Times)

2018 NASEM Report  Sexual Harassment in Academic Science Engineering and Medicine
This study examined the prevalence and impact of sexual harassment in academia on the career advancement of women in the scientific, technical, and medical workforce. The report concludes that the cumulative result of sexual harassment in academic sciences, engineering, and medicine is significant damage to research integrity and a costly loss of talent in these fields. It provides a series of recommendations for systemwide changes to the culture and climate in higher education to prevent and effectively address all forms of sexual harassment.

DARVO

DARVO stands for Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender—a perpetrator strategy. The perpetrator may Deny the behavior, Attack the individual doing the confronting, and Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender, so that the perpetrator adopts the victim role and accuses the true victim of being an offender. This can occur when an actually guilty perpetrator assumes the role of "falsely accused" and attacks the accuser's credibility and blames the accuser of being the perpetrator of a false accusation.

Institutional courage™

Institutional courage is the antidote to institutional betrayal. It includes institutional accountability and transparency, as when institutions respond well to disclosures and when institutions conduct anonymous surveys of victimization within the institution and then use the data to become healthier.

Betrayal blindness

Betrayal blindness, a key concept of betrayal trauma theory, is the unawareness, not-knowing, and forgetting exhibited by people towards betrayal. Victims, perpetrators, and witnesses may display betrayal blindness in order to preserve relationships, institutions, and social systems upon which they depend.

Betrayal trauma

 A betrayal trauma occurs when someone you trust and/or someone who has power over you mistreats you. For instance, it’s a betrayal trauma when your boss sexually harasses you. Our research shows that betrayal traumas are toxic. They are associated with measurable harm, both physical and mental.

Institutional betrayal

Institutional betrayal, developed from betrayal trauma theory, occurs when the institution you trust or depend upon mistreats you. It can be overt but it can also be less obvious, for instance, a failure to protect you when protection is a reasonable expectation. Our research shows that institutional betrayal is also related to measurable harm —again both mental and physical.