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Social Integration Of College Students

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Social Integration and Hazing in College Social Integration in College Building and maintaining social connections with others is especially important among college students, as social integration has long been considered a key factor that supports college retention (Bean, 1984; Tinto, 1975). There are a number of psychosocial benefits to being involved in campus clubs and organizations, such as academic autonomy, career planning, and educational involvement (Foubert & Grainger, 2006). There is evidence that engaging in campus group activities increases social integration, at least among fraternities and sororities (Long, 2012). There are many different activities and interests in which campus groups are engaged, spanning from artistic expression (e.g., theater) and sport (e.g., club sports), to academics and social experiences (e.g., fraternities and sororities) (Dugan, 2013). One nationally-representative study on over 47,000 college students found that roughly 80% of college seniors reported having been involved in at least one college campus club or organization at some point (Dugan & Komives, 2007) and another large-scale national survey found about two-thirds of college students to be involved in a campus group (Allan & Madden, 2008). Defining Hazing Certain campus groups require initiation rituals that grant newcomers group acceptance, some of which involves hazing, which is defined as “the abuse of new or prospective group members.” (Cimino, 2011). More

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