Hazing – Are You Aware?

In the 17th century hazing was an accepted practice in universities in Greece and Western Europe, it was known as “penalism”. It was a belief by University administration and upper class men that under class men were uncivilized and had to be properly groomed. Penalism was a requirement of graduation and you had to provide an official statement that this process was completed in order to receive your degree. Due to reports of death and serious injuries, state legislation abolished this practice in the 18th century. The practice of hazing was resurrected in the 20th century despite the occurrence of deaths. Hazing continues to occur at alarming rates within our small social communities and has been identified as the “Hidden Crime”.

Hazing with groups involves high levels of alcohol consumption, which are

accompanied by physical assaults or high risk challenges being required of individuals to gain acceptance into a group, athletics, fraternity or sorority. Since 1990 more deaths have occurred on college campuses as the result of hazing. From the 1980 to 1989, 55 deaths occurred due to hazing, an average of 5.5 deaths per year. During the 1990 that number doubled to 95 deaths. This dramatic of an increase should have sent alarms to our college campuses. Now, hazing in the high school environments has also been on the rise.

Hazing and alcohol abuse are two major societal issues. When combined, they become an even larger issue within our social communities we are a part of. Research has found that 90 percent of hazing deaths involved extreme alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol consumption compromises judgment to the risky behaviors that are part of the hazing rituals. The forced drinking that occurs during the hazing ritual leaves an individual without a capacity to make a sound decision to the challenges being set before them in the dare of a risky behavior leading to injury or death.

We have 43 states that have anti-hazing statutes. These statutes lack uniformity, most punish hazing as a misdemeanor, a few punish as a felony. Campus to campus and then state to state we need to link together to take on uniformity to diminish this “right of passage” to be accepted into our societal groups. College campuses can no longer deny or ignore alcohol abuse and hazing. Campuses need to educate group leaders regarding hazing and the secrecy of this activity. A unity must be built with group leaders and Administration within the campus. As stated initially, we have two issues that need to be addressed; alcohol consumption and hazing. Campuses must be willing to take a stance in both to become effective in their efforts. It is time to stop turning a blind eye and be willing to investigate and enforce not just for students, but also faculty and staff whom fall short of reporting the known abuses, must also be held accountable.

References

Hollmann, B. (2002). Hazing: Hidden Campus Crime. Wiley Periodicals,

Inc., 11-23.

Jeffrey F. Sodl, R. B. (2007). Traumatice Myositis Ossificans As a Result of

College Fraternity Hazing. Philadelphia: The Association of Bone and

Join Surgeons.

Stop Hazing. (1998-2010). Retrieved April 30, 2013, from Rain Storm

Consulting http://www.stophazing.org/