A Comparative Thematic Analysis of Institutional Betrayal in the National Women’s Soccer League and the Catholic Church

• Published date: 01 May 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241230477
• Author: Mia Kelly
• Date: 01 May 2024

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2024, Vol. 51, No. 5, May 2024, 787 –801.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241230477

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2024 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

787

A COMPARATIVE THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF

INSTITUTIONAL BETRAYAL IN THE NATIONAL

WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE AND THE

CATHOLIC CHURCH

MIA KELLY

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

Sexual abuse oftentimes occurs in institutional settings involving a power imbalance, including churches, sports, schools, and

workplaces. Abuse in the Catholic Church was a reoccurring media fixture beginning in 2002 but continues to be a prominent

feature even today. On September 30, 2021, The Athletic published an article documenting a coach’s sexual coercion, emo-

tional and verbal abuse, and retaliation, exposing a toxic league culture that failed to protect its players. Negative outcomes

for assault survivors can be exacerbated when institutions fail to prevent or respond appropriately to sexual assault, a phe-

nomenon known as institutional betrayal. Using institutional betrayal theory as a context for understanding experiences, this

paper presents an exploratory analysis of abuse and misconduct experiences from two separate institutions: the National

Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the Catholic Church. This discussion offers insight into how the various dimensions

of institutional betrayal appear differently in distinctive institutional settings.

Keywords: sexual harassment; abuse; victim-blaming; survivors; misconduct

Sexual violence occurs in a wide variety of societal contexts; however, it remains diffi-

cult to determine the true prevalence of sexual violence in society. Sexual abuse has

been reported in numerous institutional settings including education, church, the military,

and sport. Recent public focus on sexual violence has made society aware of institutional

wrongdoing (e.g., media attention on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church or in the enter-

tainment industry). Black women’s rights activist Tarana Burke launched the #MeToo cam-

paign in 2006 as a call to action for creating a public space for sexual assault survivors to

achieve “empowerment through empathy.” A decade later, the #MeToo banner was ampli-

fied when numerous sexual harassment allegations against a prominent Hollywood film

producer swiftly united and became a social movement known as #MeToo. Although not a

novel problem, the #MeToo movement brought issues of institutional culture and responses

to sexual harassment to the forefront of societal discourse once again.

AUTHORS’ NOTE: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mia Kelly, Department

of Political Science & Criminal Justice, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Avenue, Eau Claire,

WI 54702-4004; e-mail: gilliamm@uwec.edu.

1230477CJBXXX10.1177/00938548241230477Criminal Justice and BehaviorKelly / Comparative Analysis of Institutional Betrayal

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