So you want to address sexual harassment and assault in your organization? Training is not enough; Education is necessary

The problem of sexual harassment and assault in educational environments and in the workplace is receiving more attention today than it has at perhaps any time in the past. The awareness of the problem of sexual violence has been growing for years and almost certainly the field of trauma and dissociation – along with other professionals and activists and the media – has played a role in this growing awareness. Part of the increased attention has been focused on how to respond to accounts of sexual harassment or assault. Increasingly there is also a focus on developing efforts to prevent sexual harassment and assault. One way that organizations attempt to address sexual violence in schools and in the workplace is through educational programming, most often referred to as training: Sexual harassment awareness training. Bystander training. Self-defense training. Prevention and response training.

While the word training dominates in this sphere, we are concerned that the term – and what the term training generally implies – is not the most effective method for reducing and ultimately eliminating sexual harassment and assault. Generally, training is associated with compliance and a rules-based process, whereas education is associated with complex understanding, critical thinking, and the acquisition of knowledge based on empirical research and theory development. While there are certainly skills and rules to learn, there is an even greater educational need to delve deeply into the roots of the problem, to nurture critical thinking and understanding, and to acquire knowledge. Included in this knowledge acquisition is the knowledge of principles (rather than black/white rules and regulations) to guide decision-making and institutional processes. Education is needed because our society remains unaware of major aspects of the frequency, consequences, and dynamics of sexual harassment and assault, despite recent sociopolitical movements such as college campus sexual assault awareness campaigns and #MeToo. This unawareness and illiteracy about sexual violence is part of what allows the problem to persist and is evinced in the way that, for example, so many people misunderstand basic victim psychology, assuming incorrectly, for instance, that “true” or “legitimate” victims of sexual violence will be quick to report their experiences. The solution to illiteracy and unawareness is education – education that is on-going, grounded in empirical evidence, and provides conceptual and theoretical insights for the learner. Sexual violence will not be stopped without this sort of deeper education that allows learners to break through the ignorance and begin to understand and address the roots of the problem.

The words we use to describe such education also matter; if our field labels this necessary education as training, the term may implicitly minimize the nature of the problem and, perhaps, may communicate that sexual harassment or violence can be overcome with a three-hour online module. Training also suggests a fixed endpoint to one’s learning or knowledge about a given topic: at a certain point, one becomes “trained” and thus “certified” or “approved” to engage with certain issues or to enact specific procedures. In the case of sexual harassment or assault, it is generally true that there is certainly a basic set of general procedures that should be followed when one receives a disclosure of sexual harassment or assault (e.g., respecting the wishes of the victim-survivor, using active listening skills, acknowledging the harm of being sexually harassed or assaulted, and using non-judgmental and non-blaming words and affect). Trainings in this area may cover some or all of these topics, but often are not inclusive (and cannot be due to perceived restrictions on employee time, prioritizing other types of trainings, etc.) of all of these areas, and frequently do not explain why, for example, using active listening skills and non-judgmental language might be impactful during disclosures (e.g., Foynes & Freyd, 2011). Single-session trainings – a common format in universities and workplaces – are often completed in an online, video-based format, and cannot possibly cover all of the types/presentations of sexual harassment and assault. However, continuing education on these topics can – especially if continuing education means that individuals (i.e., HR professionals, managers/supervisors, etc.) can have an educational space to learn more about these events after encountering them firsthand as part of their professional positions. A model for this type of continuing education already exists in a variety of professions, including for psychologists and other health professionals. Psychologists, for example, must complete a certain number of hours of education either annually and/or before renewing their licenses. This continuing education is deemed sufficiently important that, in order to continuing practicing in the profession, such education must be obtained regularly. It is thus a logical extension, then, to support continuing education on the prevention and response to sexual harassment and assault, especially those who may receive disclosures or conduct investigations as part of their position.

This emphasis on education is consistent with our current focus on addressing sexual harassment and assault through institutional courage. Institutional courage is the term Freyd (2014) proposed to capture the antidote to institutional betrayal. Institutional betrayal refers to wrongdoings perpetrated by an institution upon individuals dependent on that institution, including failure to prevent or to respond supportively to wrongdoings by individuals (e.g. sexual assault) committed within the context of the institution (Smith & Freyd, 2014). In her 2018 essay, Freyd proposed 10 steps institutions could take to promote institutional courage. The need for education is related to each of these 10 steps, including these four (from Freyd, 2018):

• Comply with criminal laws and civil rights codes. Go beyond mere compliance. Avoid a check-box approach by stretching beyond minimal standards of compliance and reach for excellence in non-violence and equity.

  • Implication for training versus education: In practice, many organizations require “sexual harassment prevention and response training” in the form of an on-line video tutorial created by a for-profit insurance company. Many of these video trainings permits participants to scroll-through each section without watching the provided video, and after doing so, participants may or may not be presented with a short quiz that often tests the most low-hanging-fruit of questions. Such trainings allow institutions to check off a box of a required activity without actually fulfilling the spirit of the requirement. Providing continuing education would require much more of institutions, necessitating, perhaps, more in-depth presentations and assessments that could not be met with a one-session video-based training.

• Respond sensitively to victim disclosures. Avoid cruel responses that blame and attack the victim. Even well-meaning responses can be harmful by, for instance, taking control away from the victim or by minimizing the harm. Better listening skills can also help institutions respond sensitively.

  • Implication for training versus education: While some listening skills can be taught as trainings (e.g. Foynes & Freyd, 2011), deeper education about the nature of harmful versus helpful responses (e.g. Dworkin, Brill, & Ullman, 2019) is necessary to nurture a trauma-informed disclosure and reporting environment. For instance, only by eradicating illiteracy through education will reporting policies be designed in ways that support survivors (Holland, Cortina, & Freyd, 2018).

• Make sure leadership is educated about research on sexual violence and related trauma. Teach about concepts and research on sexual violence and institutional betrayal. Use the research to create policies that prevent further harm to victims of harassment and assault.

  • Implication for training versus education: Institutional leaders have a unique obligation to be educated about sexual harassment and assault. Not only do executives, HR managers, and team leaders/supervisors often have institutional reporting obligations, these individuals also instantiate to greater or lesser degrees institutional/organizational culture regarding sexual violence. In this way, leaders at all levels – from the CEO to the supervisor who manages a small team of three employees – must be educated.

• Use the power of your company to address the societal problem. For instance, if you’re at a research or educational institution, then produce and disseminate knowledge about sexual violence. If you are in the entertainment industry, make documentaries and films. Find a way to use your product to help end sexual violence.

  • Implication for training versus education: Institutions of higher education and those serving the field of trauma and dissociation would benefit from prioritizing research support (i.e., with internal or external funding mechanisms) and dissemination of research findings on sexual harassment and assault. Not only would institutions support the reduction of these types of harms by supporting research and dissemination of findings, there would likely also be a benefit for current and prospective institutional members in the form of contributing to an institutional culture that values addressing sexual harassment and assault.

State of the journal

With the continued, generous support of Taylor & Francis, we were able to give a cash award for a particularly excellent publication in JTD for the eighth consecutive year. Dr. Bethany Brand once again served as Chair of the Awards Committee. The Richard P. Kluft Award for the Journal of Trauma & Dissociation 2018 Best Article was for the article “Intergenerational transmission of traumatization: Theoretical framework and implications for prevention” authored by Ariel J. Lang and Maria A. Gartstein (Lang & Gartstein, 2018). About the article (Lang & Gartstein, 2018), the award committee commented:

This paper has a strong potential to advance clinical reasoning and research related to prevention of intergenerational transmission of traumatization by providing a well-founded, easily tested theoretical framework. The authors diagram both the phenomenon itself and how it might be altered with perinatal interventions. Their recommendation that clinicians couple PTSD treatment with parent-child interaction training follows well from the theory and could prevent at risk children from being abused.

In addition, the awards committee acknowledged two 2018 papers for Honorable Mention. One was “Parents descriptions of young children’s dissociative reactions after trauma” by Gabriela Cintron, Alison Salloum, Zoe Blair-Andrews and Eric A. Storch (Cintrón, Salloum, Blair-Andrews, & Storch, 2018). For this selection (Cintrón et al., 2018), the awards committee noted:

Despite the frequent connections made between complex dissociative reactions developed due to abusive experiences in childhood, there are relatively few systematic studies of dissociative reactions in childhood. Dissociative reactions following trauma in adulthood has been more thoroughly documented. This investigation addresses that gap in the literature by interviewing the caretakers of very young traumatized children. The results, taken from a semi-structured clinical interview, attest that many young children clearly demonstrate complex dissociative symptoms following a traumatic experience.

The other Honorable Mention was “A resilience framework: Sexual health trajectories of youth with maltreatment histories” by Nicole M. Fava, Laina Y. Bay-Cheng, Thomas H. Nochajski, Julie C. Bowker and Timothy Hayes (Fava, Bay-Cheng, Nochajski, Bowker, & Hayes, 2018). About this article (Fava et al., 2018), the awards committee observed:

In this article, the authors use a strength-based theoretical approach to empirically delineate trajectories of sexual health among youth and young adults who have experienced child maltreatment. Using data from a 4-wave longitudinal study of youth from 15 to 28 years of age, that authors used latent class analyses to identify three distinct classes: resilient, survival, and improving. This study highlights the importance of attending to posttraumatic sexual health utilizing resilience theory.

In addition to these Best Paper awards, Paul Dell’s paper “Reconsidering the autohypnotic model of the dissociative disorders” (Dell, 2019) received recognition from the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. His paper received the Ernest R. & Josephine R. Hilgard Award for Best Theoretical Paper on Hypnosis. This is the second year in a row Paul Dell has received this award for a JTD publication. In 2018 he received the Ernest R. & Josephine R. Hilgard Award for Best Theoretical Paper on Hypnosis award for his JTD paper: “Is high hypnotizability a necessary diathesis for pathological dissociation” (Dell, 2017).

JTD’s success would not be possible without the dedication of, and insightful reviews submitted by, our editorial board, associate editors, and ad-hoc reviewers. Thank you to the reviewers, editorial board, and associate editors of JTD – we truly could not do this without you. We are very pleased to welcome our new Editorial Board members for Volume 21 (to be published in 2020): Drs. Kimberly Balsam, Michael Baiocchi, Melissa Platt, Kristen Reinhardt, Michael Salter, and Adriano Schimmenti. Eli Somer is rotating off the Editorial Board and we thank him for his long and superior service.

We look forward to reading your submissions to JTD in the year ahead.