ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a view of dissociation as a set of characteristics, including information-processing tendencies, developed as an adaptation to interpersonal, institutional, and cultural betrayal trauma. Using betrayal trauma theory (BTT; Freyd, 1996) as our primary theoretical framework, we discuss the key role that attachment and betrayal play in the development of dissociation during and after traumatic experiences. Specifically, we emphasize how dissociation may emerge as an adaptive short-term strategy that allows trauma victims to remain unaware of information that could threaten important relationships after betrayal. Dissociation’s influence on the ability to regulate emotion and memory constitutes both a transdiagnostic outcome of trauma and a risk factor for other costly outcomes. We close with discussions of recent extensions of betrayal trauma theory: institutional betrayal (Smith & Freyd, 2014) and cultural betrayal trauma theory (Gómez, 2019a), with a particular focus on how these theories inform our understanding of the development of dissociation in specific institutional and socio-cultural contexts.
