Betrayal and courage : faith community responses to domestic violence.

Faith communities must understand the consequences of domestic violence (DV). This includes the prevention, intervention, policy, and practices that vitally impact the safety and protection of congregants who experience abuse in their homes. With the statistics of DV in churched families being comparable to the general population, churches cannot ignore this pressing matter. Victims of DV often first reach out to informal support networks – including faith communities. Yet, clergy are often unaware of how to best respond to disclosures of DV. A database managed by the Center for Institutional Courage (2025) shows a growing recognition of how organizations and institutions engage in harming individuals, but it has limited data on the topic of DV. This is particularly true in relation to communities of faith, including churches, congregations, denominational bodies, and religious support groups. Institutional betrayal (IB) involves the harms committed by institutions against the individuals who depend on those institutions. Faith communities engage in IB by not speaking of or preaching about abusive behaviors, by not validating experiences of DV, by responding without empathy, by not utilizing networks of helping professionals, and by not incorporating trauma-informed practices. Alternatively, institutional courage (IC) is evident in a supportive, proactive, transparent institutional culture that makes it easy to report harm and protects those who have been abused. Faith communities demonstrate IC by believing and validating disclosures of DV, by providing for tangible needs, through referrals to professional or DV-trained community partners, and by demonstrating the continued value of those affected by abuse. Survivor posttraumatic growth can be enhanced when faith communities engage in IC. Promoting healing in survivors of DV also impacts their children, making this a topic of intergenerational importance. Advocacy through research is one way to continue to make a difference for victims and survivors. Disseminating research findings, as outlined in this dissertation, can create tools for implementing change. By strengthening faith community responses to DV, we can seek to improve practices and policies that minimize IB and increase IC. The positive impact this will have on congregational practices and responses will most certainly impact the future of the church.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Goertzen, Geneece, 1971-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Yancey, Gaynor.

• Domestic violence.
• Survivors.
• Congregations.
• Churches.
• Institutional betrayal.
• Institutional courage.
• Posttraumatic growth.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14078

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/14078