BETRAYAL TRAUMA

Abstract

Betrayal trauma refers to a social dimension of psychological trauma, independent of post-traumatic stress reactions (Freyd, 1996). Betrayal trauma occurs when the people or institutions on which a person depends for survival signifi cantly violate that person ’ s trust or well- being: Childhood physical, emo-tional, or sexual abuse perpetrated by a care-giver are examples of betrayal trauma. When psychological trauma involves betrayal, the victim may be less aware or less able to recall the traumatic experience because to do so will likely lead to confrontation or withdrawal by the betraying caregiver, threatening a neces-sary attachment relationship and thus the victim ’ s survival. Research fi ndings indicate that adults are less likely to fully recall child-hood abuse by caregivers or close others than by strangers (Freyd, DePrince, & Gleaves, 2007). In addition, betrayal trauma may be associated with other problems such as physi-cal illness, alexithymia, depression, and anxi-ety (Freyd, Klest, & Allard, 2005). Females, compared with males, report greater exposure to traumas high in betrayal; the reverse is true for traumas low in betrayal (Goldberg & Freyd, 2006). Betrayal trauma theory highlights the importance of safe and trustworthy attach-ment relationships in understanding posttrau-matic outcomes