Hank Nuwer, Author; Hazing Deaths Database

Link to my story for Campus Safety

here have been more than 170 hazing deaths in collegiate fraternities, sororities, a band, ROTC and sports teams all told. A survey of large and small public and private institutions conducted by University of Maine researchers Elizabeth Allan and Mary Madden found that around half of all students in fraternities, clubs, teams and other organizations reported that they had been hazed.

Among the hazing practices uncovered by the researchers were forced or coerced drinking, physical abuse, screaming in so-called lineups, being abandoned in the countryside, nudity, improper touching, paddling and beatings. Deaths at Chico State University and Plattsburgh State University were caused by pledges being forced to drink many gallons of water, an act that severely upset the body chemistry of Matt Carrington and Walter Dean Jennings, the dead pledges.

The 32 National Campus Safety Initiative (32 NCSI) defines hazing as any activity expected of someone joining a group that humiliates, degrades or risks emotional and or physical harm, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate.

Significantly, punishments for criminal hazing have been historically mild, and in many cases, defendants get no jail time or a very small fine and community service at most. Male fraternities have by far been the most deadly of all groups that haze. To put it into perspective, according to my research, there has been at least one hazing death on a college campus every year from 1970 to 2015. (NOW 2017–Moderator

Continue reading

Find the entire CNN article right here.

Scholarship: Glenna C. Chang The Hidden Curriculum: Hazing and Professional Identity — Copy available at http://search.proquest.com/openview/772dfe2582a83407e8a84fc65a9996c4/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y 

Abstract Glenna C. Chang 329 words In this study, I examined the role of hazing as a rite of passage on social identity development among medical residents. I hypothesized that when hazing is experienced as a part of a socialization process that is perceived as fair, social identity is maximized. A total of 161 physicians in training participated in this study; 64.6% were female, 34.2% were male. Participants came from a range of disciplines and were at various stages of completion of their residency programs. The survey was administered on-line and participants completed two social identity measures, a justice measure, and a workplace mistreatment measure, which was used in the absence of a validated hazing measure. There were two waves of data collection. At Time 1, participants completed questions for all four variables. All participants were invited to return the following day to complete justice items, which served as the moderator variable; 22 participants returned to complete the survey at Time 2. Moderated multiple regression was conducted to test the hypothesis that there would be an interactional effect of hazing and perceived justice on social identity such that social identity is maximized under conditions of high hazing and high perceived justice. The results indicated that justice was a significant predictor of social identity (? = .35, p < .05) as measured by the social identification scale (Cameron, 2004), and both justice (? = .29, p < .05) and hazing (? = -.19, p < .05) were significant predictors of social identity. However, the interaction between justice and hazing was non-significant. PREVIEW x The results indicated that justice was a significant predictor of social identity as measured by both dependent variables, and hazing was a significant predictor only with one of the dependent variables. However, the interaction between justice and hazing was non-significant. Results suggest that a fair work environment, regardless of the level of hazing, is related to high social identity. Moreover, in environments of high organizational justice, when hazing occurs, social identity makes a sharp decline.

Scholarship: How peer leadership impacts hazing in the arena of non-revenue generating college athletics: CS Zacharda 

From ProQuest: One can purchase a copy here.

Amidst all of the prestige and tradition of college athletics, there exists an ugly underside of hazing. Hazing, generally defined as any forced act that may result in harm as a condition to join a group, has been a part of colleges and universities, as well as college athletics, for decades. This qualitative study explores the ways in which peer leaders and team captains can impact their athletic team environment, especially within the context of hazing.

College athletes from four different aquatic team sports were interviewed and surveyed on their perceptions of team leadership, as well as their thoughts on hazing. The data indicated that those teams that had a team captain that the general membership deemed as effective were less likely to perceive that their team engaged in hazing activities. The findings also indicated that several factors were influential in understanding an athletic team’s relationship to hazing. The dynamic of the team, the role and effectiveness of the team captain, and the way in which formal and informal educational efforts are designed all emerged as significant. From these influential factors, several recommendations emerged to address hazing in athletics. Most notably, by harnessing the potential of peer leadership, especially the team captain position, educators can design an approach to ultimately eliminate hazing from college athletics.

Bio Posted Online: Dr. Christopher Zacharda is currently the Associate Dean of Students at Johnson & Wales University (JWU).  He earned his Ed.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California.  His research interests include peer leadership models, college athletics and the psychology of hazing.  Dr. Zacharda also currently teaches in the MBA and Masters in Counseling programs at JWU.

Sportswriter Frank DeFord once waged a war on band hazing, albeit not without turmoil. http://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1208&context=faculty_publications …