Abstract

Institutional Betrayal Theory is introduced, a phenomenon in which an institution does not adequately protect or rather participate in perpetration when trauma experiences occur, and explained how it differs from the concepts of grooming and gaslighting, which have previously been used to describe sex crimes. Institutional betrayal theory explains what difficulties victims face in recent hierarchical and intra-institutional sexual violence. It suggests that the need to set the direction of psychological intervention in victims of sexual violence, seek appropriate protective measures, and suggest how the overall social culture should change. It is examined the validity and the reliability of a Korean version of the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire (K-IBQ). To validate IBQ in Korea, item translation and back-translation, item analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted in a 462 females who have experienced sexual violence. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the 2 factors structure of the K-IBQ and both factors were correlated one another. The K-IBQ factors were adequately related to the social reactions to trauma experience, posttraumatic cognition and psychological symptoms, supporting good discriminant and criterion validity. The implications and limitations of this study, and directions for future study were discussed.