Institutional Betrayal
Definition
Harm that occurs when an institution a person depends on for safety, such as a police force, a court, a school or an employer, fails to prevent wrongdoing or responds to a disclosure with disbelief, blame or inaction.
Related terms
- Primary Victimisation
- The direct physical, financial or psychological harm caused to a person by the criminal act itself.
- Re-Victimisation
- A new and separate offence committed against a person who has already been a crime victim, as opposed to harm generated by...
- Secondary Victimisation
- Additional harm caused to a victim through the process of reporting and investigation, such as disbelief, insensitive questioning, or retraumatisation. Fear of...
- Tertiary Victimisation
- The diffuse harm a crime causes to a wider community or to society, including reduced trust in public safety, fear of crime,...
- Vicarious Trauma
- Psychological harm absorbed by people who are repeatedly exposed to another person's traumatic experience at close range, such as first responders, investigators,...
- Acute Stress Disorder (ASD)
- A trauma-related disorder diagnosed when intrusion, avoidance, negative mood and arousal symptoms appear within a month of a traumatic event and last...
- Just-World Hypothesis
- Melvin Lerner's finding that people tend to believe the world is fundamentally fair, which can lead observers to blame a victim for...
- Post-Traumatic Growth
- Positive psychological change reported by some survivors as a result of struggling with a highly challenging event, alongside, not instead of, ongoing...
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- A recognised psychological disorder that can follow exposure to traumatic events including criminal victimisation. Diagnostic criteria include intrusive re-experiencing, avoidance, negative mood...
- Resilience
- A stable trajectory of relatively low psychological disturbance in the months after a traumatic event, without a period of clinical disorder; the...
- System-Induced Trauma
- A general term for psychological harm generated by the procedures of the justice system itself, such as repeated statement-taking or hostile cross-examination,...
Explained in these topics
- Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Victimisation
- Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Victimisation (UGC-NET Unit X)Harm that occurs when an institution a person depends on for safety fails to prevent wrongdoing or responds to a disclosure with disbelief, blame or inaction.
- Psychological and Physical Impact of VictimisationHarm caused to a victim by the failures, doubt or mishandling of the institutions meant to help them, such as police, courts or employers, distinct from the ha...