http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/15/nyregion/baruch-college-students-death-is-ruled-a-homicide.html
During a fraternity Initiation to Pi Delta Psi, sadly a pledge died. Hazing is illegal but yet it happens secretly during some fraternity Initiations. Hazing appears to place individuals in stressful situations they may not be able to control. Some may feel if the act was not intentionally meant to harm or humiliate, then it is not considered hazing but a harmless adrenaline-fueled initiation ritual. The issue is that unintended consequences can occur from untested ritual acts, and stories such as these are appearing more in the news.
This relates to human service and criminal justice due to the safety issues associated with college students attempting to join such fraternities. Human service workers would work closely with the colleges to promote prevention and bring about change. What do you think are the underlying social and psychological issues which allows for secret fraternity initiations such as hazing?
This article was an interesting read and it highlights a disturbing trend in modern society. There is too much emphasis placed on the benefits of joining a fraternity and little is known of the underground initiation process. I am not denying the fact that it looks good on a resume, however some of its practices mirror those of gang initiation. It a sanctioned “gang” supported because it fosters a historical tradition and a psychological need to acceptance and affiliation. In conjunction with criminal justice and colleges, human service workers would provide knowledge of fraternity culture.
Thank you very much for your comment rworrell. I agree with you and would like to add that another thing human service workers could do is advocate to change the word “pledge”. It appears that this word is associated with hazing, and if it was 1st level member or apprentice it might promote change. Since it’s students trying to be initiated, having them come up with ways to improve the fraternity, instead of the outrageous behavior of hazing, may place the prestige back into being a member.
I agree with the both of you. This article was interesting and many college students think that just because they “pledged” to a fraternity or sorority, they must follow what everybody else is doing and if they don’t, something bad will happen to them. A fraternity is like a gang and if a member doesn’t agree to do something that the other members are doing, they will get something bad in return or might be threatened to leave the fraternity. Lastly, from a human services perspective, human service professionals may work closely with colleges and the student who are apart of fraternities and even run groups on fraternities and educate and empower these individuals and tell them what a fraternity is supposed to have and what it’s supposed to be doing for these young adults while they are at college. Thanks for posting this article Heather! It was a great read!
Thanks for taking the time to respond Mohammed; I do agree there appears to be some similarities between gangs and fraternities I am grateful that there are some fraternities that would never allow hazing. I believe that those students directly involved should go into counseling or group, for more than hazing but to counter the adverse effect this whole incident may have on them.
Nice article Heather! I agree with you all ! I think sometimes college students take it overboard and look for reasons and use this pledge thing as an excuse. Coming from a Human Service perspective, what comes to mind is actually sometimes there is something that triggers these students to start hazing is actually something that has happened before and they are not over it and so the only way to go about it, is by making others suffer or go through some sort of pain. Maybe they need ssrvices to get through whatever triggers these this feeling. Thats what came to my mind when I thought of this. What makes them start this? Sometimes is more than just pledging. Maybe family history of abusive and so on…
Thank you Anna for responding, that is exactly what I was thinking when i mentioned the underlying social and psychological issues. As human service workers, we want to initiate prevention and change but sometimes there are a few who may “slip through the cracks.” After reading this article it’s clear they became afraid, and that they knew right from wrong. There has to be some underlying issues which were either overlooked, or unnoticed which led them to feel that hazing was an acceptable rite of passage.