Betrayal trauma

Betrayal trauma is defined as a trauma perpetrated by someone with whom the victim is close to and reliant upon for support and survival. The concept originally introduced by Jennifer Freyd in 1994, betrayal trauma theory (BTT), addresses situations when people or institutions on which a person relies for protection, resources, and survival violate the trust or well-being of that person. BTT emphasizes the importance of betrayal as a core antecedent of dissociation implicitly aimed at preserving the relationship with the caregiver. BTT suggests that an individual (e.g. a child or spouse), being dependent on another (e.g. their caregiver or partner) for support, will have a higher need to dissociate traumatic experiences from conscious awareness in order to preserve the relationship. Betrayal trauma theory emerged to integrate evolutionary processes, mental modules, social cognitions, and developmental needs with the extent to which the fundamental ethic of human relationships are violated. A foundational component of the dissociative aspect of BTT postulates that all humans possess an inherent mental mechanism to detect violations of social contracts (i.e., "cheater detectors"). BTT posits that in the context of abusive relationships in which escape is not a viable option, the cheater-detecting mechanism may be suppressed for the higher goal of survival. Thus, betrayal trauma offers a theory of psychogenic amnesia designed to evaluate both the role of attachment in human survival and the significance of blocking the painful experience. Child sexual abuse (CSA) can involve molestation by one or more caregivers or close relatives. While physical and emotional abuse during childhood is present in the context of BTT, research has found that CSA leads to more significant disruption in capacities and is more characteristic of a substantial violation of human ethics. Notably, the degree to which one is violated by a caregiver or close relationship can influence the nature of and response to trauma.