A Double Betrayal: The Implications of Institutional Betrayal for Trauma-Related Symptoms in Intimate Partner Violence Survivors

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global health concern that is known to result in a plethora of detrimental outcomes, among them trauma-related symptoms. According to the betrayal trauma theory, these outcomes may be rooted not only in the abusive partner’s betrayal but also in institutional betrayal, namely institutions’ failure to fulfill their obligations to provide safety, resources, and protection to IPV victims/survivors. Yet, thus far, research on institutional betrayal has been focused on survivors of abuse that occurred within an institutional context. This study aimed to explore the implications of institutional betrayal for trauma-related symptoms among survivors of IPV, while broadening the scope of institutional betrayal and exploring institutional betrayal in relation to varied contexts. An online survey was conducted among Israeli female adults using self-report measures. The sample consisted of 117 IPV survivors, M_age = 39.35 (SD = 7.9), who reported involvement of various institutions around their IPV. Regression models indicated that institutional betrayal had a unique effect in explaining all four clusters of trauma-related symptoms. The risk for clinically significant trauma-related symptoms increased by 3% (OR = 1.03) for each increase in institutional betrayal, after controlling for income, having children with the abusive partner, degree of IPV exposure, and being abused by multiple partners. The present results suggest that institutional betrayal can be a retraumatizing experience, amplifying trauma-related distress in IPV survivors.