Central Annals of Sports Medicine and Research

Cite this article: Hendricks L, Ashmore R (2017) Athletic Hazing: Ready, Set, Go! Ann Sports Med Res 4(4): 1113.

*Corresponding authorLaVelle Hendricks, Department of Psychology, Counseling, & Special Education, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, TX, 75429, USA, Email:

Submitted: 10 April 2017

Accepted: 12 June 2017

Published: 14 June 2017

ISSN: 2379-0571

Copyright© 2017 Hendricks et al.

OPEN ACCESS

Keywords•Athletics•Hazing•Abuse•Death•Bullying

Abstract

According to the Journal of Adolescent Health, students as young as sixth grade have experienced varying degrees of athletic hazing. Hazing has been defined as “any activity expected of someone joining a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate. Because the term refers specifically to organizations’ initiation practices, “hazing” is not synonymous with more general expressions of harassment such as “bullying” or “horseplay”. Hazing is not an inoffensive activity. Over the past 30 years, nearly 60 college students have died in tragic initiation incidents. In light of these outcomes, 42 states have enacted laws to make hazing illegal. (stophazing.org) Varsity athletics leads the pack of student groups experiencing hazing.

Mini Review

Athletic Hazing: Ready, Set, Go!LaVelle Hendricks* and Robin AshmoreDepartment of Psychology, Texas A & M University – Commerce, USA

INTRODUCTIONScholarly articles have been written about the mental stress

associated with hazing, the evolution of human behavior, and the overwhelming desire to fit in…to belong. The most frequently reported mode of torture is participation in alcohol drinking games. (stophazing.org) Variations on these drinking games may simply be reported as consuming large portions of alcohol that result in severe illness or completely blacking out. Strangely, there is a level of denial of wrongdoing not only among these students, but also among peers and parents who have been told of said activities. An unwarranted fear lends to protection of their so-called team. Hazing goes under-reported mostly because players do not want to get anyone in trouble and are afraid of rejection or perhaps worse, adverse consequences.

Unlike bullying, hazing does not necessarily originate with aggression that isintent on causing harm, nor is it typically repeated. A rite of passage to gain a spot on a team may be initiated to build unity of purpose, and cohesion from having gone through difficulty, collectively, as recruits. However, some elements of bullying and hazing are eerily similar. “Both fall on the spectrum of interpersonal violence, have implications for students and schools, result in immediate and long-term consequences, and feature an imbalance of power between parties.” Speaking to the complexity of sports initiations, Glen Wintrup of Brunel University, writes, “the diverse social constructions of initiations, within and outside sport, means its primary characteristic is dissonance.” “People generally consider the experience of tension to be both undesirable and unsustainable, thus people seek to reduce tension when it occurs” [1].

Low incidences of reporting may be seen as a result of ignorance as to what constitutes hazing, lack of participation in surveys/questionnaires, or it may be the result of the fear of disclosure. For instance a study entitled Hazing Among Adolescent Athletes disclosed “only 40% of all students, [male and female, from grade six through grade 12], defined ‘hazing’ correctly, and

of those who were hazed, 86% maintained that the hazing had been ‘worth it’ to join the team” [2]. Additionally, the result of this study revealed, “Only 3% of students described the endured activities as ‘dangerous’, although in actuality 22% experienced hazings with the potential for serious physical harm” [2].

Doctors through three middle-class school districts in New York City distributed this questionnaire. As students arrived for their annual athletic physical examination a one-page questionnaire was distributed. The students were asked to answer whether they had done, or had been ‘forced’ to do, anything ‘embarrassing’, ‘dangerous’, and/or ‘illegal’. They were also asked about activities ‘done’ to them, or inflicted upon them. Very few labeled anything ‘dangerous’ though their disclosures elsewhere maintained the certainty that there was a potential for physical harm. There was an apparent disconnect between “the concept of hazing” and the inability to “recognize its abusive nature”.Gershel says, “None of the hazed students in ourstudy reported engaging in an illegal activity, despiteNew York State’s clear anti-hazing laws” [2].

While the previous study’s focus was middle- and high-school student athletes, more studies have been conducted at the college athlete level. Becoming part of a band, sport, or organization should be a highlight for the member. Unfortunately as many as 80% of NCAA students are put through rigorous exercises that may actually cause serious injury [3]. In 2011, AldoCimino performed the first experimental investigation of hazing motivation on a sample of college undergraduates. What can be done about the motives behind hazing? Learning the origin of thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of earlier generations can give insight into humanity. A study published in the Evolution of Human Behavior by Aldo Cimino supports the earlier work of his to search out predictors of these behaviors [4].

First he conducted his research among university students, and later he came to wonder how his findings might correlate

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to the general public. Perhaps surprisingly, Cimino states, “I replicate[d] and extend[ed] the basic findings of [4] and demonstrate[d] that a representative sample of United States adults (N = 914) has nearly identical hazing sentiments as students of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Thus, this study represents the first large-scale, experimental study of hazing motivation” [4]. Because group dynamics offer community or co-operative benefits such as protection, status, goods, and/or shared interests, there comes a type of exploitation strategy that arises among those already in the group toward any newcomer. This dynamic has been in play for centuries and “is surprisingly common cross-culturally, including small- scale societies and industrialized countries”, according to Cimino’s article [4].

As for coping, the mind reduces the cognitive dissonance by allowing the end to justify the means. In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values (Festinger, 1957) [5], The social psychologist, Leon Festinger wrote, “Cognitive dissonance theory is founded on the assumption that individuals seek consistency between their expectations and their reality. Because of this, people engage in a process called dissonance reduction to bring their cognitions and actions in line with one another. This creation of uniformity allows for a lessening of psychological tension and distress.”(p.25-26) seemingly, conformity to the group dynamics is elevated in value while risk and self-respect are downgraded.

Risk is the piece of the puzzle that brings confusion. Alfred University conducted a national survey of sports teams. “Every athlete was at risk of being hazed. Some athletes, however, were at higher risk than were others. Using chi-square analysis, we determined at a confidence level of 99% the athletes most at risk of being hazed to join a team.” Below is an excerpt of that study:

Having learned, in general, which athletes were most likely to be hazed, we then analyzed the risk by category of athletes. The results are:

Type of behavior

Earlier in this report, we divided initiation behaviors into four groups based on severity. Below we describe which athletes were most at risk at each level of severity.

Unacceptable Initiation

Athletes most at risk of being subjected to unacceptable initiation activities, regardless of the involvement of alcohol, were:

men

swimmers, divers, football players or water polo players

students at southern or midwestern institutions

Alcohol-Related Initiation

Athletes most at risk of being subjected to alcohol-related initiation, but not other unacceptable initiation activities, were:

women (While there were fewer women overall involved in

hazing activities, if women did participate in hazing, it was more likely to be alcohol-related)

lacrosse players

students at eastern or western institutions

Questionable Initiation

Athletes most at risk of being subjected to questionable, but not unacceptable, initiation activities were:

football players students at campuses in the south or west [3].

As recently as August of 2014, incidents in athletics are making headlines. “According to the UNC Office of the Dean of Students, the school has a clearly defined policy on hazing: “The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is committed to fostering organizations that provide a positive and safe environment for new and existing members. To that end, UNC expressly prohibits hazing or any activity that puts a student’s physical, emotional or psychological health and safety at risk. The Instrument of Student Judicial Governance defines hazing as action, ‘that causes or permits an individual, with or without consent, to engage in activities that subject that individual or others to risks of physical injury, mental distress, or personal indignities of a highly offensive nature, in connection with recruitment, initiation, or continued membership in a society, fraternity or sorority, club, or similar organized group, whether or not recognized by the University’” [6].

Cornell University has a thorough website defining hazing, revealing some former incidents and their ‘hidden rites’, and then explaining what to do when hazing arises. Among things the school says are not okay for students to impose on others are eating gross stuff, isolation, acts of servitude, alcohol, sleep deprivation, and acts of exertion [7-9]. Each of these topics appears in portable document format (PDF) and are available for download. The webpage at Cornell reminds individuals that there are various creative ways to achieve the organization’s goals of connecting, closeness, and maintaining traditions. “Many alternative practices can challenge individuals, and cultivate self-discipline, community, strength, and tradition without endangering the group. Hazing behaviors are varied and fall along a CONTINUUM of harm. It happens in different ways, at different times, and to new and current members. Regardless, hazing has no place in a caring community [7].”

REFERENCES1. Maich KHG. Reducing Cognitive Dissonance through Effort

Justification: Evidence From Past Studies and Daily Experience. Western Undergraduate Psychology Journal. 2013; 1: 11.

2. Gershel JC, Katz-Sidlow RJ, Small E, Zandieh S. Hazing of Suburban Middle School and High School Athletes. J Adolesc Health. 2003; 32: 333-335.

3. Alfred University Study. National Survey of Sports Teams. 1999.

4. Cimino A. The evolution of hazing: Motivational mechanisms and the abuse of newcomers. Journal of Cognition and Culture. 2011; 11: 241–267.

5. Festinger, L. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. California: Stanford University Press. 1957.

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Hendricks L, Ashmore R (2017) Athletic Hazing: Ready, Set, Go! Ann Sports Med Res 4(4): 1113.

Cite this article

6. Adelson E, Forde P. North Carolina investigating alleged hazing incident with football team, Yahoo! Sports. 2014.

7. Cornell University. What to Do. 2014.

8. Hoover NC. National survey: Initiation rites and athletics for NCAA sports.1999; 30.

9. Nuwer, H. High School Hazing: When Rites Become Wrongs Franklin Watts, New York. 2000.