Developing a Workplace Institutional Betrayal Measure Using a Survivor-Led Qualitative Methodology

Institutional betrayal, a concept coined by Jennifer Freyd, has been used to understand institutional responses to sexual violence predominantly in a university setting and specific workplaces (e.g., military). The Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire (IBQ) has been essential in quantitatively measuring survivors’ experiences of institutional betrayal and understanding institutional responses, but it has not been widely applied to workplaces. Additionally, most quantitative researchers create measures without input from the population they seek to study, resulting in a top-down approach to research that has been criticized, particularly when done with marginalized populations. The current study developed an adapted version of the IBQ as applied to workplaces. In doing so, we directly sought input from survivors on how the original IBQ may be modified to more adequately reflect their experiences with reporting sexual assault in the workplace. We identified four relevant themes from 23 interviews with participants who reported their sexual assault in the workplace. These four themes included: clarity of measure, endorsing additional measure items during the interview, suggestions for additional or revised items for the IBQ-Workplace measure, and other methodological considerations. We present an updated version of the IBQ for workplaces based on survivor feedback and discuss future directions for survivor-led research.