Surviving Victimization: How Service and Advocacy Organizations Describe Traumatic Experiences, 1998-2016

Area of Science:

• Sociology of language
• Trauma studies
• Nonprofit management

Background:

• Service organizations face challenges in naming traumatic experiences for vulnerable populations.
• Debates exist on using "victim" versus "survivor" language, often seen as mutually exclusive.
• Limited research documents trends in trauma-related language use by advocacy groups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze language trends in trauma-related terminology used by service and advocacy organizations.
• To investigate the prevalence and co-occurrence of "victim" and "survivor" language.
• To explore potential gendered patterns in trauma language use.

Main Methods:

• Utilized administrative data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
• Analyzed language use in 3,756 service and advocacy organizations.
• Examined data spanning from 1998 to 2016.

Main Results:

• "Survivor" language has increased, while "victim" language has declined.
• "Victim" terminology remains prevalent and often co-occurs with "survivor" language.
• Joint use of "victim" and "survivor" terms is most frequent in organizations serving women and in sexual/relationship violence advocacy.

Conclusions:

• Trauma language evolution is more complex than a simple displacement of terms.
• The co-emergence of "victim" and "survivor" language reflects nuanced discourse communities.
• Gendered patterns in language use highlight specific advocacy contexts.