For many South Dallas veterans, the end of military service doesn\u2019t bring peace\u2014it brings a new kind of fight. The struggle to find stable jobs, affordable housing, and quality health care often feels like a battle all over again.<\/p>\n
A new study from the Journal of Veterans Studies<\/a> is putting a name to something many Black and Brown veterans already know too well: institutional betrayal. It\u2019s the sense of being abandoned or dismissed by the very systems meant to protect them.<\/p>\n Researchers found that veterans who felt unprepared for civilian life were far more likely to experience deep feelings of betrayal and distrust toward the military institution. Nearly 80% of those who said their transition support was inadequate also reported signs of institutional betrayal.<\/p>\n That means this isn\u2019t just about poor planning or paperwork, it\u2019s about broken trust.<\/p>\n What \u201cInstitutional Betrayal\u201d Really Means<\/strong><\/p>\n The idea comes from Betrayal Trauma Theory,<\/a> which explains how trauma hits harder when it\u2019s caused by a trusted person or system. We expect strangers to hurt us, but not our families, churches, hospitals, or in this case, the military.<\/p>\n In the military context, institutional betrayal shows up when veterans feel abandoned during their transition out of service, when promises of \u201cwe take care of our own\u201d turn into silence and red tape.<\/p>\n This can look like:<\/p>\n For veterans of color and women, these feelings often cut even deeper.<\/p>\n The Numbers Behind the Pain<\/strong><\/p>\n The study surveyed 269 U.S. veterans using a tool called the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire (Military Version, supported by the evidence of Freyd and Smith)<\/a>. <\/p>\n The results were striking:<\/p>\n But the research also reveals an important truth: when veterans do feel supported, their sense of betrayal drops dramatically. Preparation, connection, and community make all the difference.<\/p>\n Why Black and Brown Veterans Feel It Harder<\/strong><\/p>\n Even though the study didn\u2019t find racial differences in betrayal rates, the context matters. For Black and Brown veterans, the feeling of being failed by a system isn\u2019t new, it\u2019s familiar.<\/p>\n Many return home to the same inequities they left behind: limited access to mental health care, economic barriers, and institutional bias. Nationally, veterans of color face higher rates of unemployment, homelessness, and untreated PTSD than their white counterparts.<\/p>\n Here in Dallas, the disparities are visible. According to local VA data, Black veterans make up a disproportionate number of those seeking care for PTSD and depression<\/strong>,<\/a> and many report difficulty trusting the VA after previous negative experiences.<\/p>\n It can be deduced that coming from a community that\u2019s been historically overlooked, the sense of betrayal hits differently. In some aspects, veterans of color may feel the system is failing them on purpose.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trust Lost<\/strong><\/p>\n The study also revealed that many veterans didn\u2019t initially label their experience as \u201cbetrayal.\u201d They just knew something felt wrong. But after reflecting on their struggles. After feeling dismissed, unsupported, or unprepared, they recognized the pattern.<\/p>\n That silence says a lot. Veterans are trained to endure hardship and not complain. But beneath the surface, the emotional toll of institutional neglect builds up.<\/p>\n Even recruiting participants for the study was hard. <\/a>Over 100 veterans dropped out once they read that the research was about betrayal. Some worried it was linked to the VA or military and didn\u2019t want to be identified. Only after a trusted veteran podcast endorsed the study did participation rise.<\/p>\n That hesitation mirrors what\u2019s happening in our communities. Mistrust runs deep; not just toward the VA, but toward public health institutions and local government systems too.<\/p>\n The Transition Trap<\/strong><\/p>\n Every year, around 200,000 service members leave the military<\/a> and begin their transition to civilian life. The military offers programs like the Transition Assistance Program (TAP),<\/a> but only about 57% of veterans in the study said they actually used it\u2014and one in three said they received no transition help at all.<\/p>\n For some, the lack of preparation feels like abandonment. For others, it feels like proof that their service was disposable.<\/p>\n\n
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