Unwilling trust: Unpacking the assumption of trust between sexual misconduct reporters and their institutions in UK higher education

Shannon, E.R. and Bull, A. 2024. Unwilling trust: Unpacking the assumption of trust between sexual misconduct reporters and their institutions in UK higher education. Sociology Compass. 18 (3). https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13197

TitleUnwilling trust: Unpacking the assumption of trust between sexual misconduct reporters and their institutions in UK higher education
TypeJournal article
AuthorsShannon, E.R. and Bull, A.
Abstract

This article explores trust in organisations by analysing interview data from students and staff who have disclosed or reported gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) to their higher education institution in the UK since 2016. GBVH contributes to gender inequality in higher education (HE), and increased reporting of it may not only help prevent GBVH, but also improve gender equality by helping to retain women and gender minorities within HE. Around half of the interviewees in this study (n = 12) expressed distrust in their institution, yet despite this they still reported or disclosed their experiences to their institution. Existing literature in this area, particularly the concept of institutional betrayal, assumes that survivors of GBVH trust their institutions—including HE institutions—because they are dependent upon said institutions. Our data challenges this assumption, and in this article, we analyse participants' trust orientations in the context of their reasons for reporting. We argue that dependence on and trust in institutions are separate phenomena, in that members of an organisation may be dependent upon the organisation in various ways, but their trust in the organisation reflects their structural positioning within it. To develop the theorisation of trust in institutional betrayal, we draw on and extend Luhmann's concept of ‘system trust’ as well as other sociological theories of trust. Finally, the article introduces the concept of ‘unwilling trust’—a contradiction between an individual acting in trusting ways despite feeling a lack of trust—to explain this disconnect between dispositions and actions.

Keywordsgender-based violence
higher education
institutional betrayal
reporting
sexual harassment
trust
JournalSociology Compass
Journal citation18 (3)
ISSN1751-9020
1751-9020
Year2024
PublisherWiley
Publisher's version
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13197
Web address (URL)https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/soc4.13197
Publication dates
Published02 Mar 2024

Related outputs

How do institutional gender regimes affect formal reporting processes for sexual harassment? A qualitative study of UK higher education
Bull, A. and Shannon, E.R. 2024. How do institutional gender regimes affect formal reporting processes for sexual harassment? A qualitative study of UK higher education. Law & Policy. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/lapo.12255

Safeguarding and Agency: Methodological Tensions in Conducting Research with Survivors of Sexual Violence in Universities
Shannon, E.R. 2022. Safeguarding and Agency: Methodological Tensions in Conducting Research with Survivors of Sexual Violence in Universities. Social Sciences. 11 (8) 350. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11080350

Protecting the perpetrator: value judgements in US and English university sexual violence cases
Shannon, E.R. 2022. Protecting the perpetrator: value judgements in US and English university sexual violence cases. Gender and Education. 34 (8), pp. 906-922. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2021.1955093

Permalink - https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/wx6zv/unwilling-trust-unpacking-the-assumption-of-trust-between-sexual-misconduct-reporters-and-their-institutions-in-uk-higher-education


Share this

Usage statistics

6 total views
1 total downloads
These values cover views and downloads from WestminsterResearch and are for the period from September 2nd 2018, when this repository was created.