RESEARCH_FILE
Institutional Betrayal
Institutional betrayal is harm an institution — an employer, a school, the military — does to people who depend on it, by failing to prevent wrongdoing or failing to respond supportively when it's reported. Smith and Freyd formalized the concept in 2014; a 2023 workplace study found about 55% of employees who experienced sexual harassment also experienced institutional betrayal, and that institutional failure independently predicted worse depression, anxiety, and physical symptoms.
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“If I report it, I'll be the one who loses”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“I can write down what happened before I decide who ever sees it.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Open a blank note or paper, title it with today’s date, and write three concrete details you would want to remember later: what happened, where it happened, and who was present. Save it somewhere only you can access.
How it sounds in your head
The inner script: 'I reported it and nothing happened, so it probably wasn't that bad.' Institutional betrayal research reads it the other way: the organization's inaction is a separate, additional harm with its own measurable cost to health — not a verdict on whether your original complaint was valid.