Hazing | Meaning, Bullying, Fraternities, Ritual, & Schools (2024)

hazing, form of initiation that occurs when new members enter certain social groups, most often characterized by degrading, humiliating, or dangerous tasks and behaviours. Hazing is typically associated with student organizations such as university fraternities and sororities, but similar initiation rituals take place within the military, sports teams, clubs, street gangs, workplace environments, and a variety of other social settings. Hazing is customarily enforced by elder or more seasoned members as a required rite of passage for newcomers.

Hazing rituals range in intensity. In educational settings, hazing methods are often sorted into three distinct categories: subtle hazing, harassment hazing, and violent hazing. Subtle hazing, also called intimidation hazing, refers to rituals and tasks that emphasize the power imbalance between existing members of a group and newcomers. This can include acts of servitude, periods of isolation or silence, and deprivation of certain privileges. Harassment hazing indicates encouraged or forced behaviours that may be emotionally or physically uncomfortable, such as sleep deprivation, public humiliation, and extensive physical activity. Violent hazing includes harmful behaviours such as coerced consumption of alcohol, drugs, or nonfood items; forced or degrading sexual acts; physical abuse; exposure to extreme weather; and other dangerous or illegal activities.

Hazing rituals can have harmful and even tragic consequences. Victims of hazing have suffered brain injuries, abdominal trauma, paralysis, third-degree burns, sexual abuse, and death. It was estimated that at least one hazing-related death had occurred in the United States each year between 1959 and 2021. Alcohol poisoning is a leading cause of hazing-related deaths; other causes include head injury, cardiac arrest, and drowning. Alcohol is in some way involved in the majority of hazing-related tragedies, and further statistics show that, of the documented hazing-related deaths at colleges and universities, the majority of victims are male fraternity members. Hazing can also put at risk the reputations of certain student organizations and educational institutions.

Many regulations and policies exist to restrict hazing activity due to the psychological and physical harm that can occur from engaging in such behaviour. Individual sorority and fraternity organizations at colleges and universities have adopted anti-hazing policies, and in 2007 an anti-hazing hotline was sponsored by a number of “Greek life” organizations in the United States. Some sororities and fraternities have also shortened or eliminated the new member period (also referred to as “recruitment” or “pledging” periods) in an attempt to mitigate hazing. Many colleges and universities also have strict anti-hazing policies in force, and almost all states in the United States have anti-hazing laws that fall within the criminal code, the educational code, or both. As of 2022, the only six states without enforceable hazing restrictions in either the criminal code or the educational code were Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Though most college and university administrations stand strongly against hazing, students’ perspectives are more complex. Among some students, hazing has become a somewhat normalized, even expected, part of college life. Students who have been involved in hazing often fail to name it as such, opting for arguably more positive words such as bonding or tradition. Fraternity and sorority members frequently claim that hazing has led to valuable friendships and camaraderie within their organizations. Further, victims of hazing-related injuries who receive medical treatment may be reluctant to disclose the origin of their injuries for fear of harming the reputation of their organization, which may lead to gaps in research regarding hazing-related injuries and deaths.

Similar initiation rituals were at one time sanctioned at some institutions of higher education. Records suggest that medieval schools in Europe facilitated crude rituals, known as deposition ceremonies, in which first-year students were made to endure painful tests, beatings, and verbal insults. Deposition ceremonies were eventually prohibited by such institutions, but unofficial ceremonies continued. Such ceremonies were driven by the philosophy that the first-year students were uncivilized and needed to be disciplined by elder students and administrators. Schools in England once condoned a disciplinary hierarchy among their students. The so-called prefect-fa*gging system paired upperclassmen with lowerclassmen, who would perform menial tasks such as polishing shoes and fetching food in exchange for mentorship and protection. However, upperclassmen sometimes exploited, coerced, and abused lowerclassmen. Though fa*gging was a long-held tradition at many highly regarded English schools, due to controversy it was largely banned by the mid-to-late 20th century.