It's Not Bullying... It's Hazing! That Makes It Okay, Right?

From athletic fields to office buildings there has been a tradition of breaking in the new blood, rituals that are supposed to make them one of the group.  Many times it occurs as embarrassment and assault, sometimes resulting in death.  This ceremony of course is the practice of hazing.

Just this past week news broke of a high school soccer team in La Puente, California being investigated for sexual assault as part of a hazing ritual.  New members of the team would be taken to a room beside the coach's office, told to undress and then they were assaulted with the end of a pole.  This is an act that investigators have speculated to have been occurring for over two years.

In August, a video of Sergeant Phillip Roach being hazed as a "rite of passage" into the Army went viral.  After being struck in the chest with a wooden mallet, he collapsed and struck his head, requiring 6 staples to close the wound.

With such tragic and despicable outcomes of hazing, one would wonder what's even the point of it?  Those who hold onto the rituals claim it builds unity in the group.  It's something they've all been through and it becomes a bond they share.  However, that isn't exactly what's going on.

Hazing is at its core a form of sanctioned bullying.  It establishes a person's place in the hierarchy of a group.  The fact that other members abuse new recruits establishes their rank as seniors to those hoping to join.  It gives them power which they are more than willing to express.  This is the same goal for bullying.  They are acts which harm or embarrass someone in an effort to show they are lesser than the ones committing the acts.  When you talk to those who have been through the hazing rituals about how they hated it, they are still willing to do it to the next round of recruits.  Why, when someone admits how awful it is, would they continue it?  Because it means they're no longer at the bottom.  It gives them a way to show their status in the group.  It is also as a method of exclusion, with the the assaults and behavior being even more difficult on recruits they don't want to join.  For these people, they are only there for others to express their power, having no real opportunity to join.

So what can be done about hazing?  For starters, enacting policy which prohibits it.  There are other ways to form bonds within a team.  Some are mentoring programs by veteran members, not only helping a new recruit to be acclimated more quickly but also building a sense of ownership to the group.  There are numerous team building exercises which place an emphasis on people finding their role in a group based on their strengths and showing how the team can benefit from each member.

Ultimately, hazing won't end until those within a group decide not to do it anymore.  It's when they are able to break the chain and say that they won't do the same, even if it was done to them.  It is the courage of those who are willing to stand out that will end the cycle.