Institutional abuse and societal silence: An emerging global problem

Middleton, Warwick; Stavropoulos, Pam; Dorahy, Martin J.; Krüger, Christa; Lewis‐Fernández, Roberto; Martínez-Taboas, Alfonso; Şar, Vedat; Brand, Bethany L.

doi:10.1177/0004867413514640

Cited by 25 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Judith Herman has written that perpetrators discourage bystanders from taking empowered action by "appeal[ing] to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil" (Herman, 1992, p. 8). Despite this universal desire, scholars and the public have shown increased willingness to acknowledge interpersonal and institutional wrongdoings that they may wish did not exist, especially those that involve violence against children (Middleton et al, 2014;Smith & Freyd, 2014b). Those working with victims of childhood abuse have been required to lift the veil of bystander "betrayal blindness" that protects us from knowledge of the extent of human harm and suffering caused by abuse.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Home Is Where the Harm Is: Family Betrayal and Posttraumatic Outcomes in Young Adulthood

Delker

Smith

Rosenthal

et al. 2017

Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma

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Research on institutional betrayal has found that institutional wrongdoing that fails to prevent or respond supportively to victims of abuse adds to the burden of trauma. In this two-study investigation with young adult university students, we demonstrated parallels between institutional betrayal and ways that families can fail to prevent or respond supportively to child abuse perpetrated by a trusted other, a phenomenon we call family betrayal (FB). In Study 1, psychometric analysis of a new FB questionnaire provided evidence of its internal consistency, unidimensionality, and convergent and discriminant validity. The majority (approximately 72%) of young adults abused in childhood reported a history of FB, with an average of 4.26 FB events (SD = 4.45, range 0-14). Consistent with betrayal trauma theory, Study 2 revealed that FB was 4x more likely to occur in relation to childhood abuse by someone very close to the victim (vs. non-interpersonal victimization), with a particularly strong effect for female participants. FB history predicted significant delay to disclosure of a self-identified worst traumatic event (ηp 2 = .017) and significant increases in dissociation (∆R 2 = .05) and posttraumatic stress (∆R 2 = .07) symptoms in young adulthood. Moreover, with FB in the regression models, only FB-not child abuse nor recent interpersonal victimization-predicted dissociation and clinically significant elevations in posttraumatic stress. Findings suggest that FB is a prevalent phenomenon among young adults abused as children and that it explains unique, clinically significant variance in posttraumatic distress, warranting increased attention from trauma researchers and clinicians.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Home Is Where the Harm Is: Family Betrayal and Posttraumatic Outcomes in Young Adulthood

Delker

Smith

Rosenthal

et al. 2017

Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma

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“…Institutional abuse is not limited to the abuse of children, but also includes elder abuse, the abuse of people with disabilities and the abuse of prisoners and others within what Goffman (1962) refer to as total institutions (Burns et al 2013;Gallagher 2000;Middleton et al 2014b;Mouzelis 1971). Salter (2013: 31) discusses institutional sexual abuse as '… the sexual abuse of children by people who work with them in an institutional setting, in which one or more staff members engage in or arrange the sexual abuse of children in their care'.…”

Section: Institutional Abuse Internationallymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bad Apples, Bad Barrel: Exploring Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy in Australia

Death

2015

Int J for Crime, Justice & Social Democracy

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This paper considers constructions of institutional culture and power in the cover-up of child sexual abuse (CSA) by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church of Australia. The issue of cover-up has previously been considered in international inquiries as an institutional failing that has caused significant harm to victims of CSA by Catholic Clergy. Evidence given by select representatives of the Catholic Church in two government inquiries into institutional abuse carried out in Australia is considered here. This evidence suggests that, where cover-up has occurred, it has been reliant on the abuse of institutional power and resulted in direct emotional, psychological and spiritual harm to victims of abuse. Despite international recognition of cover-up as institutional abuse, evidence presented by Roman Catholic Representatives to the Victorian Inquiry denied there was an institutionalised cover-up. Responding to this evidence, this paper queries whether the primary foundation of cover-up conforms to the 'bad apple theory' in that it relates only to a few individuals, or the 'bad barrel theory' of institutional structure and culture.

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“…The wide-ranging $502 million Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the British Parliament's recently announced formal investigation of pedophilia within its own ranks, the fine-grained documentation of a half-century of abuse by an individual as prominent as Jimmy Savile, and the still-unfolding exposure of many thousands of child-abusing Catholic clerics across the globe, are examples of a collective attitude that had never before reached a critical mass. As we begin to find the will to investigate past organised abuse on scales not previously contemplated (Middleton et al 2014a(Middleton et al , 2014b, we are also able to articulate and delineate the reality of ongoing incest during IJCJ&SD 15 Online version via www.crimejusticejournal.com © 2015 4(2)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tipping Points and the Accommodation of the Abuser: Ongoing Incestuous Abuse during Adulthood

Middleton

2015

Int J for Crime, Justice & Social Democracy

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Until recently the widespread reality of ongoing incestuous abuse during adulthood had attracted no systematic research. The scientific literature was limited to the occasional case study and brief anecdotal references. This minimal literature was supplemented by biographical works written by or about victims of this form of abuse, and by press reports. With the advent of the Josef Fritzl case there was a very marked increase in the press reporting of such abuse, which in turn provided a reference point for more fine-grained data collection and scientific reporting. This paper introduces the subject of prolonged incest via the lens of organised abuse, summarises research on incestuous abuse and draws on multiple clinical examples to elucidate the mechanisms by which such abuse merges with, or develops into, variations of organised abuse, including that centred on the family, on prostitution, or on that involving abuse networks. The abuse practices, the networking , and the ploys used to avoid prosecution practiced by the father perpetrating ongoing incestuous abuse during adulthood have much in common with other variants of organised sexual abuse.

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Institutional abuse and societal silence: An emerging global problem

Cited by 25 publications

References 8 publications

When Home Is Where the Harm Is: Family Betrayal and Posttraumatic Outcomes in Young Adulthood

When Home Is Where the Harm Is: Family Betrayal and Posttraumatic Outcomes in Young Adulthood

Bad Apples, Bad Barrel: Exploring Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy in Australia

Tipping Points and the Accommodation of the Abuser: Ongoing Incestuous Abuse during Adulthood

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