Fraternity & Sorority Hazing
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FRATERNITY & SORORITY HAZING: A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO RELEVANT RESEARCH & RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PREVENTION Elizabeth Allan, Ph.D., Brian Joyce, Ph.D., & Emily Perlow, Ph.D. Hazing remains prevalent on college campuses. It is a threat to the health and safety of college students, in particular, fraternity and sorority students. Fraternity and sorority life professionals are often faced with the growing pressures and challenges to prevent hazing on their campuses. This paper is intended to serve as a resource for fraternity and sorority professionals to align practice with research findings and research- informed guidance about hazing prevention. Hazing continues to undermine the health and safety (Nuwer, 2020). Calling attention to the horrific and of students, their groups, and the larger communities in deadly incidents of hazing is vital for alerting the which they operate. Humiliating, degrading, or having public to the problem of hazing and catalyzing change- the potential to be physically and/or emotionally making initiatives. However, limiting our focus to harmful, hazing is at odds with the missions of these types of incidents may have an unintended effect educational institutions and national/international of eclipsing the broader range of harm that can occur organizations and undermines ethical leadership from hazing and the diversity of students, families, development and practice. As such, many campus and communities who are impacted by it. and national/international organization leaders have Hazing, any activity expected of someone joining heeded the call to action to prevent hazing. Despite or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, these concerted efforts, however, hazing persists. abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person’s Contents Analyses of high-profile and lesser-known cases have willingness to participate (Hoover, 1999), can be Literature Review .....................................................................................................................................1 illuminated the social complexity of hazing behavior understood within a spectrum of interpersonal violence Hazing Prevention ....................................................................................................................................8 and the limits to traditional prevention approaches. that includes alcohol consumption, humiliation, Promising Practices ................................................................................................................................10 Research can help us to better understand the isolation, sleep deprivation, and sexual acts serving Practical Application ..............................................................................................................................11 complex and nuanced factors contributing to, and as common behaviors (Allan & Madden, 2008, 2012). Concluding Thoughts .............................................................................................................................14 mitigating or eliminating, hazing behaviors. A In a national survey of 11,482 students, Allan and Appendix: Hazing Prevention Framework Mapping Sheet ...................................................................16 developing knowledge base about its prevention Madden (2008, 2012) found that over half (55%) of all References ..............................................................................................................................................18 holds promise for providing fraternity and sorority college students participating in a campus organization professionals with data-driven approaches to guide experienced hazing in their college career. Fraternity more effective practice. This white paper is intended and sorority members were one of the most likely group as a comprehensive, yet concise review of the members to experience hazing, with 73% of members literature on the topic of fraternity and sorority hazing reporting they experienced behaviors meeting the and its prevention. In writing this, our goals were to definition of hazing. Rates of hazing among varsity provide readers with a snapshot of the research and athletes were comparable at 74%, with club sports to delineate its practical applications for practitioners (64%), performing arts organizations (54%), and committed to hazing prevention. service fraternities and sororities (50%) following in prevalence (Allan & Madden, 2008, 2012). Literature Review The body of knowledge about hazing in the context of fraternity/sorority membership has grown over the Whether it was the wearing of certain attire, paddling, previous 15 years. With several tragic hazing deaths forced alcohol or food consumption, competition making headlines, researchers are increasingly turning between first-year and upper-class students, or brutal their attention to this important topic. However, prior “pranks” between students, hazing is an unfortunate to 2005, the literature was somewhat sparse, in part thread woven into the fabric of college campuses because hazing, which is grounded in secrecy and since their early history (Syrett, 2009; Nuwer, 2020; deception and rife with social desirability bias, is quite Trota & Johnson, 2004). At least one hazing death has difficult to study. Connected to this, hazing is often occurred every year in the United States since 1959, overlooked as a problem to be solved. Minimization with the vast majority occurring within fraternities and normalization contribute to it often being 1 invisible or eclipsed except in extreme cases. Also, the met the definition of hazing but only 4.4% identified as a member of an organization (Turner, 1974; van time when students in their late teens and early 20s absence of federal funding specifically designated for they were hazed when asked directly (Allan et al., Gennep, 1960). Hazing occurs within some initiation are forming their identities as college students and research about hazing means the literature is growing 2019). rituals, but not all initiation rituals are hazing, and young adults. During this time, many traditional- at a slower rate than other areas, such as substance In the literature, hazing has been framed in a not all hazing is initiation. Similarly, hazing and aged students experiment with their identities, views, abuse. A monograph by Biddix et al. (2014) reviewed number of ways. Some researchers consider hazing bullying are sometimes used interchangeably yet have personal boundaries, and ethical decision making more than 1,500 eligible studies about fraternity and to have the potential for physical and/or emotional different meanings. Hazing is specific to inclusion in (Arnett, 2004). According to some scholars, students sorority members and experiences between 1996 and harm (Allan & Madden, 2008). Cimino (2011) refers a group context whereas bullying can happen between who endure hazing as part of the joining process, 2013. Among those studies, Biddix et al. identified to hazing as the costs of joining, while others have individuals outside of a group context. Some hazing demarcate themselves as members from non-members 300 methodologically sound, peer-reviewed studies described it as exerting power over others (Holman, can involve bullying behavior, but bullying is not (Donnelly, 1981; Johnson, 2011; Nuwer, 1999; Sweet, to synthesize. Only 2% of these studies addressed 2004), a form of symbolic interaction between group necessarily hazing (Allan & Madden, 2012). 2004). For many, the process of establishing one’s fraternity and sorority hazing experiences. While and individual identity (Sweet, 1999), or as regulated The fact that students can clearly identify harmful adult self happens concurrently with the fraternity and the focus of this white paper is the fraternity and violence (Malszecki, 2004). activities as hazing and struggle to problematize sorority membership rite of passage, thus, fraternity/ sorority experience on college campuses, no literature Informed by state law in 44 of the 50 states, the less egregious activities as hazing (Ellsworth, 2006; sorority and identity can become intertwined (Arnett, review would be complete without also drawing from kinds of hazing that are deemed illegal are often Hoover, 1999), suggests that students see the potential 2004; Sweet 2004). studies of other college students, athletes, high school egregious. For example, the state of Massachusetts for harm as a condition of hazing. While studies Hazing as a way to align individual and group students, and military environments. lists “whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics, indicate that approximately 75% of fraternity/sorority identity. Hazing also helps reinforce shared identity Among the body of literature, fraternity and sorority exposure to the elements, forced consumption of any members (Allan & Madden, 2008; Campo et al., characteristics as new members reshape their own hazing research often seeks to answer several broad food, liquor, drug or other substance” as examples 2005; Owen et al., 2008) experienced some form of identities in order to fit with the group (Allan & questions: of hazing activities (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 269, § 17, hazing, many of these students may show difficulty DeAngelis, 2004; Bryshun, 1997; Hollmann, 2002; • What exactly constitutes hazing? How do 1985), yet fails to describe some of the more nuanced problematizing activities that did not personally cause Sweet, 2004). Through receiving symbols such as student and administrator definitions