Fraternity Hazing Essay

A common myth is that hazing is a “reality” in Frats and sororities. We've all seen it in movies and we've all heard stories from our friends. Hazing can be defined as people or individuals who are forced to do something that is psychologically, physically, or emotionally harmful or damaging (Merriam Webster). Greek organizations all over the world have taken steps in developing human rights policies and strict “anti-hazing” policies to get rid of hazing in all forms from all campuses and fraternities. In the 1980s the movie “Animal House”, became a hit. The movie’s “mocking” of the wild side of fraternity life: binge drinking, hazing, sexual harassment, wild parties, drug use, and poor living conditions, became the American public’s view of Greek life. Many television movies and shows depict the ‘crazy side,’ of Greek life and choose to show its negative side. In doing so, many movies and shows do forget to showcase the beneficial side of joining a Sorority or fraternity and show its positive

The other portion of rape culture that is especially dominant in fraternities and athletes is the role of secrecy. These social groups are so tightly knit that they learn from each other and support each other no matter what. The loyalty of peer support from the members comes hand in hand with brotherhood and a team. They have a group secrecy that forbids revealing the unexpected behavior of others in order to protect members within the group, as well as the group’s reputation. As Hummer (1989) notes, “brotherhood norms require sticking together regardless of right or wrong”. This secrecy allows fraternity brothers and athletes to justify and endorse rape, because they have the support from their closest friends. These “members are admonished to avoid getting the fraternity in trouble” (Hummer, 1989), shows how this “brotherhood” built in a fraternity does everything in their power to be safeguarded from negative criticism. Not only will these men keep each other’s secrets, but they also commend and encourage these actions. Said by a fraternity pledge whom had previously dropped from the fraternity, “Those guys are sick. They like seeing you suffer” (Hummer,1989), shows how these men in fraternities treat these woman, and even their own

Students involved in clubs, fraternities, sororities, and organizations experience hazing. In fact, 55% those college students involved in clubs, teams and organizations experience hazing. Hazing is any action taken or any situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule and risk emotional, or physical harm to members of a group or team, whether new or not, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate. Hazing can occur in high school, intercollegiate, or even professionally. As an individual, you have to know what is hazing. What is going over the edge? Am I doing anything illegal? Or is this causing emotional or physical distress or stress to myself or to others? Hazing, even though its tradition,

Hazing as we know it today is most commonly to initiate members into a fraternity, sorority, or club of some sort. Hazing’s roots go into Ancient Greece when Plato first observed the occurrence and wrote about it in one of his works. The first sign of the term “hazing” appeared in the 16th century, when veteran soldiers would harass new sailors whenever the weather would create a haze. The integration of hazing in American society occurred in the 19th century after the Civil War. Before the war, university fraternities were a place to exchange ideas which most students did not find too engaging. After the war, the meaning of university fraternities had evolved to strengthen bonds with one another. The war put not optimal events and situations, which made soldiers strengthen bonds between one another. Fraternities would often replicate the traumatic events that occurred during the war to strengthen bonds between the recruits and the organization. The fraternities would base hazing rituals on stories their fathers or grandfathers who had participated in the war. Three hazing related deaths occurred in the

College; some look for the experience to open their minds in extending their educations; as others look at it as the first step towards adulthood and running away from home as fast as possible. Sororities and fraternities have been around for decades with America’s blind eye turned towards the injustices that encompass the stigma. Student hazing deaths are climbing and something has to change to prevent these actions. What will it take to change fraternity culture?

The first main sociological question in the "Fraternities and Rape on Campus" study performed by Patricia Yancey Martin and Robert A. Hummer was, "What characteristics do fraternities have that make them prone to objectification of women and more likely to commit gang rape on college campuses and why fraternities encourage the sexual coercion of women.

In the United States, fraternities and sororities have been using hazing rituals as part of their pledging processes. Death, injury, and suspensions have all been a result of this action. Greek life has been one of the most influential subjects in multiple universities today. Typically we see the positives of Greek Organizations in media and from universities, but the negative outcomes are typically left behind the curtain. In most cases, organizations have their houses on campus. The controversy comes from these organizations getting away with the harmful actions and universities not taking action. Are these rituals ethical or not?

To some fraternity and sorority chapters hazing may be a way of group bonding and teaching respect, it is not indispensable. Hazing has been going on for quite amount of time, and banning organization who haze will make other chapters want to inflict pain and humiliation to their own pledges. Not only does is lead to a physical and mental breakdown path, but it also weakens the students and strips them of their power. Studies have shown that there are in fact fraternity and sorority chapters who believe that hazing is unnecessary, degrading and view it as juvenile, do not haze their members and perform true Greek rituals. Those chapters reported to become popular on campuses and did not see a loss in member loyalty and respect (Lowery). Fraternity

First, people may say hazing is okay because it strengthens a person mentally. It teaches boys to be men or girls to be women. Donna Phillips, whose son experienced severe hazing at the Citadel in Charleston, SC, said “There’s no need for hazing. It destroys people” (Preventing). It is fine that a person may feel like that because they may have experienced it, but it was not as severe as the people in other cases. Others may kids will be kids, so someone is going to get hurt. But it should not get to that point.

Hazing in universities across the nation has become an increasingly dangerous ritual that is seemingly becoming more difficult to put an end to due to its development into an "underground" activity. Though a regular activity in the seventies, hazing, a possible dangerous act of initiation to a group, has now become an activity that is banned in thirty-nine states (Wagner 16). However, this ritual has not been stopped or become less severe. In fact it is becoming more dangerous. Since it has been banned, with many colleges imposing their own penalties against those participating in it, many fraternities and sororities have pursued this activity in an underground fashion. Since these groups have gone underground, some victims of these

Hazing in universities across the nation has become an increasingly dangerous ritual that is seemingly becoming more difficult to put an end to due to its development into an “underground” activity. Though a regular activity in the seventies, hazing, a possible dangerous act of initiation to a group, has now become an activity that is banned in thirty-nine states (Wagner 16). However, this ritual has not been stopped or become less severe. In fact it is becoming more dangerous. Since it has been banned, with many colleges imposing their own penalties against those participating in it, many fraternities and sororities have pursued this activity in an underground fashion. Since these groups have gone underground, some victims of these

First off, colleges and universities should ban Greek life on campuses for obvious reasons, the first being rape culture. Sexual violence is not something to be swept under the rug and brushed off. It continues to be a massive problem everywhere in America, and colleges are no exception. An article by The Guardian states, “Frat brothers rape 300% more. One in five women are sexually assaulted on campus” (Valenti, 2014). Looking at that statistic in real terms, 20% of females on a college campus will be sexually assaulted before they graduate. This evidence clearly

Furthermore, fraternities are infamous for their requirement to pledge in order to join the brotherhood. Although the specific acts inflicted on pledges is known only by members of fraternity, it is commonly known that hazing is part of the initiation. The pledges have to complete a series of humiliating and sometime dangerous rituals in order to join. They could be forced to consume excessive amount of alcohols and drugs, or be physically beaten or be publicly humiliated. Little known fact, white fraternities generally use alcohol for hazing while black fraternities result to physical violence. In a survey conducted by Dr. Susan Lipkins “31% of Fraternity and sorority members agree that a significant element in an initiation rite is humiliation.” “Also, many of the Greek Leaders agree that

Hazing has often been thought to exist primarily in fraternities and sororities; many people are starting to realize the pervasiveness of these harmful rituals. In fact, a recent study by Alfred University and the NCAA found that approximately 80% of college athletes had been subjected to some form of hazing. This total comes to more than 250,000 athletes during the 1998-99 school year alone. Half were required to participate in drinking contests or alcohol related initiations while two thirds were subjected to humiliating hazing. The majority of hazing occurs during the initiations to club sports and fraternities/sororities.

Hazing can take place anywhere whether it be high school, college, sports, or fraternities. Other terms used for hazing are “hell week”, “help week”, and “initiation”. When one is trying to determine whether or not the situation is considered hazing there are many signs he/she could look for. Some examples include the following questions: is alcohol involved?, are there any risk of emotional or physical abuse?, and is there a risk of injury? (University of North Carolina Wilmington). If the answer to any of these is yes, then it would be considered some form of hazing. A study taking place at Alfred University shows that 1.5 million high school students have experienced some form of hazing. Forty-eight percent of students who belong to groups have reported to experiencing hazing behavior. These incidents can range anywhere between alcohol abuse to forcing one to commit a crime. Victims of hazing may hide the truth, whether they be embarrassed or they risk the chance of getting in a lot of trouble. While you may not notice it at first there are always signs to look for when searching for hazing activity. Some signs include excessive fatigue, wearing odd clothing, isolating themselves, skipping or missing class, and feeling depressed. Many parents are not aware of their child experiencing hazing activity. Although, now many of victims have decided to speak out about there encounters.