Institutional betrayal and trauma in child welfare workers in Western Canada

Abstract

Child welfare workers report a high prevalence of mental health concerns, such as posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms, after directly or indirectly experiencing workplace traumatic events (Regehr et al., 2000, 2004). Factors within an organization, such as supportive administrators, supervisors, and coworkers (Boyas et al., 2012; Dagan et al., 2016) can impact reported mental health symptoms. Institutional betrayal research, as an extension of betrayal trauma theory, suggests that institutions play a role in impacting the development and severity of mental health symptoms in individuals who are dependent on them. Institutional betrayal, the actions or inactions of an institution when responding to a traumatic event, has been used to explain how organizational factors impact mental health symptoms in different settings (Smith et al., 2016; Smith & Freyd, 2013). To date, there has been no specific measurement of institutional betrayal linking child welfare organizations to the mental health and professional well-being of child welfare workers, after a workplace traumatic event occurs. The purpose of the current study was to explore this relationship in Canadian child welfare workers. Using a mixed-method approach was used, 70 child welfare workers in Saskatchewan and Alberta completed surveys about workplace traumatic events, mental health and professional well-being, and institutional betrayal and support. Thirteen child welfare workers in frontline and supervisory positions participated in semi-structured interviews to gather further information about mental health and professional well-being after workplace traumatic events. The survey data showed how institutional support was significantly related to professional well-being, such that workers who reported higher levels of institutional support also reported higher levels of professional well-being. ii

Experiences of workplace traumatic events were significantly related to institutional betrayal, such that workers who reported direct exposure to workplace traumatic events also reported higher levels of institutional betrayal. Additionally, child welfare workers reported experiences of traumatic events at a prevalence similar to first responder professions (Regehr, Chau, et al., 2002; Regehr, Goldberg, et al., 2002; Van Ameringen et al., 2008). Using thematic analysis, three major themes were identified in the interview data: traumatic and stressful workplace experiences, mental health and professional well-being, and organizational responses. The experiences child welfare workers reported through survey and interview data fit within an institutional betrayal lens. Workers reported feeling distrustful and/or let down by their organizations after workplace traumatic events occurred, which was identified as impacting their mental health and professional wellness. Implications and workplace considerations are discussed, such as organizations increasing worker awareness of mental health and professional well-being supports and providing long-term and ongoing supports. The current research is the first to show that the workplace traumatic events and mental health and professional well-being of child welfare workers can be understood through the theoretical orientation of institutional betrayal.