The prevalence of sexual violence and nonconsensual sex on college campuses is far from a novel issue. The systemic rates at which women are perpetrated against is undeniable, as it is almost common knowledge now that one in five women are sexually assaulted while attending college, and the majority of those survivors do not report it (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2015). The question then becomes not one of “if” but “why”, turning the conversation over to the institution itself. Trauma can occur in many forms through myriad experiences, though many assume their college will be the space in which safety is guaranteed, through the advertised resources promising to help students in need. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Institutional betrayal, simply put, is “when an institution causes harm to an individual who trusts or depends upon that institution” (Smith & Freyd, 2014). The varieties of institutional betrayal are outlined on two dimensions: initial apparent problem (isolated, or happening only once / not often; versus systematic, or frequent occurrence) and the type of institutional action (commission, a failure to respond; versus omission, a failure to prevent) (Institutional Betrayal, UO psych of trauma lecture, August 6, 2018). For the purposes of this paper, the institution’s inaction toward prevention and the inappropriate responses to disclosures of sexual assault are seen as the mechanisms by which this systematic trauma is exacerbated for women survivors. Thus, institutional betrayal that occurs on college campuses is most harmful to women survivors of sexual assault, in terms of trauma symptom prevalence.
Sexual assault on college campuses has been a social issue fought against by countless feminists and social activists alike, much of the progress has been made in the last few years. Title IX was signed into law as a part of the Education Amendments in 1972 to ensure sex discrimination in college athletics was prohibited (Women’s Sports Foundation, 2018). It was not until April 2011 that it was made clear the protections for women extended to sexual harassment and sexual violence (Women’s Sports Foundation, 2018). Unfortunately, institutions still can cause harm to women survivors, as in Blind To Betrayal, Freyd & Birrell (2013) proposed “the harm of sexual assault may be made much worse by institutional failure to prevent [it] or to respond supportively when it occurs” (pp. 38). While there are many ways one can feel betrayed by the institution at which the traumatic experience (or sexual abuse) transpired, more specific examples would be minimizing the trauma by only typifying specific rapes as valid assault, punishing women who come forward to report it, or generally ignoring the allegation altogether (Smith, Cunningham, & Freyd, 2016). In fact, a study documenting the psychological effects of women who reported sexual assault found almost half of the individuals also reported suffering institutional betrayal as well (Smith & Freyd, 2013). Captivatingly, in the same study, it was also reported that the level of betrayal did not affect the number of individuals who reported not being involved with the institution anymore, indicating the women continued to deal with it in isolation (Smith & Freyd, 2013).
The Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC; Briere & Runtz, 1989) is a 40-item scale commonly used to measure the behavioral symptoms associated with trauma exposure. The symptoms relevant to this paper are as follows: sexual functioning (i.e. “low sex drive”, “sexual problems”, or “bad thoughts or feelings during sex”), dissociation and anxiety (i.e. “anxiety attacks”, “spacing out”, or “memory problems”), and sexual abuse trauma index (“flashbacks”, “nightmares”, or “fear of men” (Brier & Runtz, 1989). While the national statistic for the ratio of men sexually assaulted while in college is one in 16, there is limited research regarding posttraumatic symptoms as a result of sexual abuse in male populations (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2015). This is likely due to the fact that about 20% of female students experience sexual assault in college versus only 7% of male students (DeCou, Mahoney, Kaplan & Lynch, 2018). These findings thus support the argument of institutional betrayal regarding sexual assault causing increased levels of posttraumatic symptoms endured by women on college campuses.
The literature surrounding history of sexual abuse being positively correlated to adult sexual functioning difficulties is available, though scarce (Leonard, Iverson, & Follette, 2008; Kelley & Gidycz, 2018). However, research is widely supportive of the claim that women in college are generally at a higher risk of experiencing sexual assault due to the context in which assault is likely to happen, including large amounts of alcohol use, a “hook-up” culture commonly found among college students, and large organized peer-driven activities such as fraternity and sorority functions (Kelley & Gidycz, 2018). Additionally, sexual functioning difficulties has been positively linked to a history of abuse, though research is limited as to what the concrete factors that contribute to this relationship are (Leonard, Iverson, & Follette, 2008). Still, the same study mentioned above, examining the women in the sample who reported institutional betrayal alongside their sexual abuse experience, found more severe posttraumatic symptoms in areas associated with sexual functioning (Smith & Freyd, 2013), as measured by the TSC. This indicates that the association between posttraumatic symptom prevalence after sexual abuse experienced by women is possible and thus should be addressed.
Another facet of trauma symptoms relevant to sexual abuse is dissociation and anxiety, characterized by reduced emotion regulation ability, behavior inhibition sensitivity, or other risk factors of developing PTSD (Warnke et al., 2018). The Smith & Freyd (2013) study found that, in the population of women who experienced institutional betrayal as well as sexual assault faced increased levels of dissociation and anxiety. This is important to recognize, as the additional stressor of institutional betrayal creates an additive affect of the posttraumatic symptoms for women survivors. Additionally, in a recent study comparing the sex differences in development of posttraumatic symptoms, the results support research that women utilize more maladaptive emotion regulation strategies to deal with PTSD symptoms compared to men (Warnke et al., 2018). Especially in relation to the connection between institutional betrayal and posttraumatic symptoms, results discussed above may add insight into the severity of trauma betrayal that women experience, and guide further research in how to reduce these effects.
Turning the conversation over to the institution, there is limited research on how administration and faculty deal with sexual abuse disclosures from students. However, a recent study reviewed data on mandatory reporting of sexual assault disclosures on college campuses as mandated by university policies, with or without consent of the survivor. They found that those policies were implemented despite limited data on their effectiveness (of eliminating sexual violence) and perceived benefits (Holland, Cortina, & Freyd, 2018). In fact, further findings suggest negative consequences of mandatory reporting policies overall, including risk of silencing and disempowering those disclosing, creating complications for faculty members in terms of when to report, and prioritizing legal accountability over student, thus causing negative consequences to the survivor, the faculty and staff, and the institution (Holland, Cortina, & Freyd, 2018). In an attempt to eradicate these issues, prevention programs have been implemented across the country, but unfortunately have not led to reduction in rates of sexual assault on college campuses. A study examined the effectiveness of a prevention course given to university students and found that those students were more likely to recognize components of sexual assault and how they could eventually cause abuse (Jozkowski, 2015). This finding is promising, as the first step to eradicating something is first to recognize and address the core components, though there is still far to go in terms of preventing sexual assault on college campuses altogether.
The literature was consistent with the claim that women experience more trauma symptoms as a result of sexual abuse on college campuses, also with regards to institutional betrayal. While both men and women experience sexual abuse in general as well as on college campuses, the prevalence of posttraumatic symptoms as a result is seemingly higher in women, overall. Literature on sexual functioning difficulties as a result of sexual abuse is available, but encompasses broad relationship claims (such as positively linked versus negatively linked) rather than specific external factors that could contribute (i.e. dispositional or environmental factors).
The thesis stated above was supported; indicating the prevalence of posttraumatic symptoms in women sexual abuse survivors is a legitimate social issue that requires ongoing research and thought in how to address it. The main limitation of many of the studies in this field of research report a lack of representation in their samples; in other words many samples are small populations undergraduate women from one university. If more studies included gender non-binary individuals and/or LGBTQIA+ individuals, I feel the research would benefit greatly in terms of representation. In addition, the population of college students usually limits the age group to somewhere between 17-22 years old, when institutions likely include graduate students older than 22 years old.
Taking into account the limitations discussed above, future research should examine sex and gender differences among college-age samples to obtain a generalizable result, especially with regards to age, socioeconomic status, race, and other domains of identity. Also, examining extraneous factors from the institution contributing to posttraumatic symptoms could add to the limited literature on institutional betrayal paired with sexual abuse on college campuses. The literature reviewed offer implications for trauma-informed policies on college campuses in order to address the consistent rates of sexual abuse.
The frequency of sexual abuse experienced by women on college campuses has been proven again and again, yet institutions still struggle to provide proper resources or respond appropriately to the allegations. Based on the literature reviewed, the need for sexual assault prevention education on college campuses is undeniable. Using empirically driven designs of how to address reports of sexual abuse could prompt the process of creating safe spaces for survivors to feel supported and start healing within the institution, rather than the institution stepping back and producing institutional betrayal.
Freyd J. J., & Birrell, P. (2013) Blind To Betrayal: Why we fool ourselves we aren’t being fooled. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Barnes, M. L. & O’Brien, J. (2018). Betrayal Trauma lecture, PSY 472 Psychology of Trauma lecture. University of Oregon, July 25 2018.
Briere, J. N., & Runtz, M. G. (1989). The Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC-33): Early data on a new scale. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 4, 151-163.
DeCou, C. R., Mahoney, C. T., Kaplan, S. P., & Lynch, S. M. (2018). Coping self-efficacy and trauma-related shame mediate the association between negative social reactions to sexual assault and PTSD symptoms. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Advance online publication.
Holland, K. J., Cortina, L. M., & Freyd, J. J. (2018). Compelled disclosure of college sexual assault. American Psychologist, 73(3), 256-268.
Jozkowski, K. N. (2015). Beyond the Dyad: An Assessment of Sexual Assault Prevention Education Focused on Social Determinants of Sexual Assault Among College Students. Violence Against Women, 21(7). 848-874.
Kelley, E. L., & Gidycz, C. A. (2018). Posttraumatic stress and sexual functioning difficulties in college women with a history of sexual assault victimization. Psychology of Violence. Advance online publication.
Smith, C. P., & Fryed, J. F. (2013). Dangerous Safe Havens: Institutional Betrayal Exacerbated Sexual Trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26, 119-124.
Smith, C. P., & Freyd, J. F. (2014). Institutional Betrayal. American Psychological Association, 69(6), 575-587.
Smith, C. P., Cunningham, S. A., & Freyd, J. F. (2016). Sexual Violence, Institution Betrayal, and Psychological Outcomes for LGB College Students. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 2(4). 351-360.
Statistics About Sexual Violence (2012, 2013, 2015). National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
Warnke, A. S., Nagy, S. M., Pickett, S. M., Jarrett, N. L., & Hunsanger, J. A. (2018). The examination of behavior inhibition system sensitivity, experiential avoidance, and sex in relation to post-traumatic stress symptom severity: Comparison of a moderated versus mediated model. Personality and Individual Differences, 132, 60-65.