Center for Institutional Courage Announces Fourth Year of Research Grants
Contact: Dr. Jennifer Freyd
The Center for Institutional Courage today announced 11 new research grants worth approximately $50,000 to scholars at 16 universities.
Courage’s fourth round of research grants brings to 44 the number of awards, now totaling approximately $200,000. These grants reflect investigations by 71 scholars at 47 universities.
The President and Founder of the Center for Institutional Courage, Jennifer Freyd, observes: -“The Institutional Courage Research Grant Program began with a bold vision: to catalyze research into institutional betrayal and institutional courage that could change how organizations understand and respond to harm. With nearly 50 grants awarded and approximately $200,000 in funding distributed, we are seeing the early fruits of that investment. This is just the beginning. We’re building a global community of scholars whose work is not only expanding the field, but shaping policy, practice, and public awareness. We’re especially proud of the growing body of peer-reviewed publications emerging from these efforts—tangible evidence of the long-term change these grants are making possible.”
Grants recipients, university affiliations, and project descriptions are listed below.
For More Information:
Research Priorities: https://www.institutionalcourage.org/knowledge-base-and-research-priorities
Research Grant Program: https://www.institutionalcourage.org/research-grant-program
Research Grants Funded, 2021 - 2024: https://www.institutionalcourage.org/grants-funded
Publications Stemming from Our Funded Research: https://www.institutionalcourage.org/publications
2025 Grants
Mapping the landscape of physician sexual misconduct in the United States.
Madeline J. Bruce, Ph.D.
Webster University
Physician sexual misconduct (PSM) represents a potentially traumatic event for impacted patients and erodes public trust in the profession. These actions have long been condemned, but that which constitutes PSM has been debated, prevalence is unknown, and its prevention and remediation have been poor due to institutionally betraying events. This study will be the first (1) to characterize PSM through patient reports of specific physician behaviors, (2) to calculate prevalence of PSM in the United States, and to (3) characterize institutionally betraying and courageous events that impact patients wanting to report.
Institutional Courage and Betrayal in SportsWorld: Survivor Perspectives
Lars Dzikus, Katelyn E. Foltz, Katie Mirance, Marissa Kiss, Angela J. Hattery, & Earl Smith
University of Tennessee, University of Mississippi, University of Delaware, George Mason University, Wake Forest University
This study investigates institutional courage (IC) and institutional betrayal (IB) within SportsWorld through the perspectives of sexual violence survivors. Using sequential mixed methods, it combines a web-based survey adapting the ICQ-I to athletes’ socio-cultural contexts with trauma-informed semi-structured interviews. The research explores how sports organizations can either support healing or exacerbate harm for survivors. Findings will offer critical insights into survivors’ lived experiences, informing practical strategies to foster IC, mitigate IB, and contribute to safer, more supportive environments for athletes, coaches, and administrators.
Authority and its Consequences: Examining how Campus Communities Respond to Police Action
Elizabeth Sharrow, Ph.D., & Kelsey Shoub, Ph.D.
University of Massachusetts Amherst
During AY23-24, nearly 3,800 people were arrested – many with brutality and police violence – across 3,875 peaceful protests at American colleges and universities. Campus authority, emboldened by rising authoritarianism and the increasingly undeniable antidemocratic turn in U.S. politics, emerged not as custodians of campus safety but as purveyors of community harm. In this study, we explore how campus community interactions with policing and investigative authorities on campus (i.e., campus police, Title IX offices) shape trust and reliance on such authorities, particularly after significant police actions. We extend the literature on “institutional betrayal” to linkages with policy feedback and political learning.
Experiences of Institutional Betrayal and Courage Among Child Welfare Adolescents: Definitions and Implications for Involvement in Trauma-Focused Support After Forensic Interviews
Hena Thakur, Ph.D., Jessica Schleider, Ph.D., & Juan Pablo Zapata
Northwestern University
Youth involved with the child welfare system demonstrate high levels of mental health concerns. A youth’s experience with institutional betrayal and courage may make it less or more likely that a youth is receptive to child welfare associated mental health services. Given the benefits of trauma-focused treatment, and potential influence of institutional betrayal (IB) or courage (IC) on openness to treatment, the current project explores how system-involved youth experience IB and IC; determinants of IB and IC; and how IB and IC shape treatment-seeking and receptivity via semi-structured interviews with 20 adolescents, aged 11-17, who have experienced a forensic interview.
Not Talking about Diversity: Everyday Interactions, Relational Work, and Institutional Courage Among Parishioners in Response to Diversity Silence
Jelani Ince
University of Washington
The recent rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in formal organizations has inspired researchers to examine the role of ‘diversity silence’ in suppressing conversations about DEI and organized events dedicated to DEI. However, there is limited evidence about the relational contexts of everyday diversity talk, the meanings that people themselves attach to it, and how people deploy institutional courage in the face of diversity silence. In this project I utilize data from a two-year ethnography of an interracial Protestant congregation in St. Louis, MO to explore how institutional courage in response to diversity silence is patterned, the forms of self-silencing, and the meanings attached to diversity talk with reference to its interactional and relational contexts.
Evaluating the Impact of Inpatient Psychiatric Hospitalization on Adolescents: A Mixed-Methods Approach
Emma Burris & Morgan C. Shields, Ph.D.
Barnard College, Columbia University
Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis
This project is the first to study institutional betrayal in the context of the adolescent psychiatric inpatient experience. While adult experiences of institutional betrayal in psychiatric inpatient settings have been associated with iatrogenic harm, adolescents are expected to have outsized experiences of institutional betrayal due to greater vulnerabilities and a lack of independence. This study will also evaluate experiences of care, family background, adverse childhood experiences, mental health status, trust in crisis mental healthcare, and post-discharge reintegration into daily life. An initial survey will study these variables while follow-up surveys will further illuminate nuances of individual experiences. This project also aims to highlight the importance of lived experience in understanding crisis mental healthcare.
Institutional Betrayal among a Cohort of Women at the Intersection of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Substance Use Disorder
Jada Y. Vaughan
Northeastern University
This study explores narratives of institutional betrayal experienced by cisgender women at the intersection of commercial sexual exploitation and substance use disorder in Boston, MA. In partnership with the Boston Human Exploitation Advocacy Team (HEAT), the project uses feminist community-based participatory methodologies to conduct in-depth interviews with 20 women engaged in HEAT services. The research investigates how institutional interactions, particularly with healthcare, law enforcement, and social services, impact trust, trauma, and help-seeking behaviors. Findings are expected illuminate narratives of institutional harm and courage offering insight into how unique peer-clinical models like HEAT can aid in repairing institutional relationships and reinforce trauma-informed, culturally responsive systems of care.
Asian American Survivors of Child and Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse in Christian Settings: Institutional Betrayal, DARVO, and Health Outcomes
Jennifer Jang, Tesia Shi, & Li-Cih Hsu
University of Maryland (Principal Investigator, Jennifer Youna Jang), University of Minnesota (Co-Investigator, Tesia Shi), Georgia State University (Co-Investigator, Li-Cih Hsu)
Although Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S., their experiences with clergy sexual abuse remain largely unexamined. This mixed-methods study investigates the impact of child and adult clergy sexual abuse in Christian settings, exploring how institutional betrayal and perpetrator DARVO responses relate to various health outcomes among Asian American survivors. Qualitative analyses, grounded in survivors’ voices, will identify harmful institutional responses, supportive factors for healing, and impact on faith. Findings will advance scholarship, inform culturally responsive and trauma-informed care, equip Christian organizations with actionable insights, strengthen advocacy efforts to support survivors, and promote institutional courage within faith communities.
Cultures of Courage: Preventing High School Sexual Violence Through Participatory Action Research
Lucy Prout, Natalie Green, Briana Barocas, & Deborah Padgett
New York University
Sexual violence (SV) remains a critical public health crisis among U.S. youth, with high school students—particularly girls, transgender, and nonbinary youth—at disproportionate risk. Despite increased attention to sex education, few school-based interventions directly address SV prevention through a structural lens that includes institutional courage–an organization’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and survivors. This mixed methods participatory action pilot study, in partnership with advocacy organization I Have the Right To (IHTRT) and a northeastern U.S. high school, follows 9th grade students and their teachers over a year to inform sustainable, survivor-centered practices that foster safer and more just school cultures.
Pain and Prejudice: An Investigation of the Impacts of Backlash Trauma among Arab, MENA, and Muslim University Students
Zeinab A. Hachem, Germine H. Awad, & Saera R. Khan
University of Michigan, University of San Francisco
The proposed study will investigate how Arab, Middle Eastern or North African (MENA), and Muslim university students are coping with heightened interpersonal, institutional, and media bias, and the subsequent backlash against campus pro-ceasefire protests concerning Israel and Palestine in the wake of the October 7, 2023 events. We will specifically examine the role of institutional betrayal in shaping students’ psychological well-being and their engagement with campus resources. The study's findings will offer substantial theoretical and practical insights, ultimately seeking to challenge institutional complicity and promote a more just, equitable, and supportive academic environment.
Indian Boarding Schools and the Native Fight for Educational Justice in Washington State
Theresa Rocha Beardall, J.D., Ph.D.
University of Washington
This project advances a model of educational redress grounded in tribal partnership, archival recovery, and curricular transformation. It centers Washington State’s Since Time Immemorial curriculum, a landmark collaboration between public schools and tribal nations. Through historical digitization and policy ethnography, the study examines how education systems can practice institutional courage by not only acknowledging past harms but also sharing authority over how Native histories are taught. By pairing data sovereignty with curriculum co-design, it offers a replicable, scalable framework for truth-telling and shared governance. Guided by tribal priorities, the project seeks to reimagine the conditions under which Native students learn, thrive, and are seen.