What Are Hazing and Stockholm Syndrome?

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

In Greek fraternities, a culture that supports and encourages sexual violence thrives. My paper will focus on the relationship between the fraternity culture and lack of response that creates this life-ruining problem. The topic is important to all college students because of the lifelong consequences to both victims and perpetrators of sexual violence.

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 is a very serious issue throughout America. Hazing, by definition, is any action or

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

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.

Researcher’s try and explain the prevalence of sexual assault may be higher amongst these groups because; there is a promotion of toughness and dominance, endorsement of traditional and conservative sex-role attitudes and engagement of heavy alcohol consumption. There seems to be a double-standard view of women’s rights amongst fraternity men. While endorsing women’s casual sex it may in fact contribute to sexual assault. Men often tend to misperceive women’s friendliness as a sign of sexual interest. There is a blurred line when defining flirting and when it can be taken seriously. Men seem to take the act as most more sexual, while girls are more likely to perceive it as light hearted fun. Blurred definitions can further lead to confusion and possibly anger when it comes to interacting with the other

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

1. The general beliefs within the organization that support hazing. Members remain resigned to the idea that their behavior serves the highest ideals of the organization.

Hazing has grown to become a major social problem. Recent incidents have been documented in marching bands, religious cults, and other types of clubs. Reports of hazing

Hazing is defined as any action taken or any situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule and risks emotional and/or physical harm to members of a group or team. Many people have become a victim of this horrific act. While it may start as a fun tradition that is performed in different groups, it can become very tragic. Hazing takes place in high schools, sports, and fraternities which has led to an increase in media attention due to victims revealing personal accounts of hazing incidents.