How to Stop Hazing and Promote Tradition without Terror
Ironically, humiliating initiation rites are dangerous, but can promote group cohesion. Fortunately, a combination of education, healthy risk taking, and cultural changes can teach campers and staff to forgo abusive bonding rituals and promote wholesome unity. We can forge connections without coercion and promote tradition without terror. To learn more about hazing and hazing prevention, visit StopHazing.org
What
- “Hazing is any activity expected of someone joining a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate.” (Alfred University / NCAA Study of College Athletes, 1999)
- “Hazing is an activity that a high-status member orders other members to engage in or suggest that they engage in that in some way humbles a newcomer who lacks the power to resist, because he or she want to gain admission to a group.” (from Hank Nuwer’s book, The Wrongs of Passage, 1999)
- Hazing is “any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule.” (Dr. Will Keim, author of Education of Character, 1994)
- Examples of hazing include: the use of alcohol; paddling; creatin of excessive fatigue; physical and psychological shocks; unsafe or humiliating dares; wearing of apparel in public that is conspicuous and not normally in good taste; engaging in public stunts and buffoonery; morally degrading or humiliating games and activities, including actual or simulated sexual acts; being forced or challenged to eat substances not normally considered food; any other activities which are illegal or inconsistent with camp policies and philosophies.
- “If you have to ask whether it’s hazing…it is.” – Dr. Will Keim
Myth
- Hazing just happens with fraternities, sororities, or varsity athletic teams.
- Hazing is just a foolish prank gone awry.
- Hazing is OK as long as there’s no malicious intent.
- Hazing teaches respect and develops discipline.
- If someone agrees to participate in an activity, it can’t be considered hazing.
- Hazing is hard to discern. There is a grey area between healthy fun and hazing.
Why
- Hazing is a misguided tradition. (This is an insidious kind of peer pressure.)
“We’ve always done this.” or “This is a camp tradition.” or “It’s part of camp.” - Prior victims of hazing have a repetition compulsion or revenge fantasy.
“They did it to me; I’ll do it to them.” or “Now I’ll give back some of what I got.” - It is human nature to want to belong. Hazing can satisfy that desire.
“This is what the people I admire had to do to get in.” - The secretive, taboo, or illegal nature of some hazing has an alluring, fun quality.
- Hazing may promote perceived status among group members.
- Some “hazees” may want to prove themselves or demonstrate their toughness.
- Some “hazers” are sadistic. They take pleasure in witnessing other people’s pain.
- To learn more about hazing research, visit www.alfred.edu/hs_hazing
Ways to Prevent Hazing at Camp
Consult
- Prior to staff training, consult with your senior staff (e.g., assistant directors, unit heads). Define hazing and facilitate an open discussion of prior hazing at camp. Discuss camper-camper hazing, staff-camper hazing, and staff-staff hazing.
Assess
- Assess your senior staff’s motivation to change the camp’s culture. This may include modifying or eliminating staff-staff hazing, creating new bonding rituals, training staff to spot and redirect camper-camper hazing.
Define
- During staff training, define hazing to the staff, as you did with the senior staff in the pre-season meeting. In some cases, the most powerful mechanism of change is simply to recognize what hazing is. The second most powerful mechanism of change is to promote empathy.
Join
- Enlist the cooperation of your senior staff to facilitate an open discussion of prior hazing at camp. Reassure everyone that no disciplinary action will result from these discussions and encourage people to speak about hazing, not specific people. Again, discuss camper-camper hazing, staff-camper hazing, and staff-staff hazing. Focus on the harmful effects of hazing and the beneficial effects of wholesome group membership.
Create
- Brainstorm the creation of new bonding rituals, such as a candlelight ceremony, a mentoring program that pairs veteran staff with rookie staff, activities on the challenge or ropes course, vestment ceremonies involving the donning of staff shirts, or an off-camp trip to a secluded locale. Group cohesion and belongingness can be accomplished without coercion. Creativity and the support of key staff are all that’s needed.
Problem-Solve
- Problem-solve historic obstacles to group cohesion. It’s possible that some hazing was a misguided attempt to compensate for lack of group cohesion or lack of pride or lack of belongingness. For example:
- Staff may have felt unappreciated by the directors.
- Veteran staff (or campers) may have felt that rookie staff (or campers) needed to undergo some trial before being welcomed as part of the group. This is a byproduct of a “we did our time… you can’t just walk into this special group” mentality.
Inspire
- Problem-solve historic obstacles to fine leadership. It’s possible that some hazing was a misguided attempt to compensate for a perceived or actual lack of power, a byproduct of boredom, or a sign of underdeveloped skills.
- Staff or campers may not have had enough genuine responsibility, education, or information.
- Staff or campers may not have had enough fresh ideas for meaningful activities, especially during free time or time off.
Case Studies of Hazing at Camp
Case Study #1
Michael, a Leader-in-Training, joins the rest of his division for a small group meeting on the first night of staff training. The assistant division head, Jake, tells Michael and the other two LITs that before the meeting can start, they must strip naked and run the bases on the baseball field in the middle of the division. Of course, while the LITs are running the bases, Jake and the other “leaders” hide their clothes.
- What makes this hazing, as opposed to a harmless prank?
- What might Sam, the division head, do next? (Remember, he had to do this too, when he was an LIT.)
Case Study #2
Early in staff training week, Lila and Maureen, both second-year cabin leaders, call a meeting of rookie staff. The meeting is to take place in the Field House on the outskirts of camp. Once the group has assembled, Lila and Maureen hand out cucumbers to the rookies staff and ask them to simulate oral sex while they take pictures of the event with a digital camera.
- What messages does this activity convey to rookie staff?
- What are the unique risks of this activity?
Case Study #3
During free time, Luke and his sister, Linda, walk around camp with the jar of lightning bugs they caught last night. They approach a Cadet camper and dare her, “If you eat one of these bugs, you can be part of our club. But if you tell anyone, we’ll make you eat the whole jar.”
- Everyone swallows at least one bug a summer. What’s different here?
- Would a staff member ever find out about this? Why or why not?
Case Study #4
Gary is a first-year cabin leader whose awkwardness and gullibility make him less popular among both campers and staff than his peers. However, his sincerity and kind heart have earned him the respect of the camp directors. One morning, another cabin leader, Max, explains that tonight is when all first-year cabin leaders must do the “ookie cookie.” They must gather in a circle and masturbate. The last one to ejaculate on a cookie placed in the middle must eat it. Although the whole event is a farce, Gary is anxious about the prospect all day, so much so that he can barely concentrate on his campers.
- Does this count as hazing, even though it was only an empty threat?
- What cultural elements at camp are driving Max’s behavior? What would need to be different about the culture to prevent such threats?
Created by: Christopher A. Thurber, PhD ABPP
Psychologist, Author, Consultant, Educator
603.557.8100
chris@campspirit.com
campspirit.com