Hazing is not something we think about everyday, but it is brought to our attention when events such as the ‘powder puff’ incident at Glenbrook North High School occur. One hundred students were involved in a touch football game that turned into a vicious hazing. Junior students were slapped, punched, doused with paint, and splattered in the face with mud and feces by senior students (CBS News, 2003). This particular example illustrates how hazing is not an issue limited to fraternities and sororities which is what society commonly thinks of when we hear the term hazing. In fact, this situation also illustrates how hazing is more pervasive than the college student population.

Hazing occurs over a number of age groups, both male and female, and for many different reasons. Hank Nuwer has written two books and numerous articles on the subject, and defines hazing as “An activity that a high-status member orders other members to engage in or suggests that they engage in that in some way humbles a newcomer who lacks the power to resist, because he or she wants to gain admission into a group” (Nuwer, 1999, p.xxv). In this paper, I will look at hazing in female college athletes through the lens of Josselson’s theory of identity development in women. Josselson found that for women, “interpersonal relationships elicit autonomous satisfaction, giving a woman a better sense of her individual identity” (In Evans, Forney & Guido-Dibrito, 1998, p. 64). Through this theory it is appropriate to examine why female athletes might permit themselves to be hazed.

Ruthellen Josselson interviewed sixty randomly selected female college seniors between twenty and twenty-two years of age from four different colleges and universities. Through a three year study she explored the identity differences among women delineating four groups: Foreclosure, Identity Achievement, Moratorium, and Identity Diffusion (Evans et al., 1998). Forclosure describes women who experience no identity crisis, they tend to adopt their parents standards of identity. Women who identify with Identity Achievement break away from their childhood and form their own distinct identities. Identity Diffusion women lack both crisis and commitment and are the most complex group to analyze (Evans et al., 1998). For my purposes, women who identify within the moratorium group will be the point of analysis.

Moratorium women are described as being in an “unstable time of experimenting and searching for new identities” (Evans et al., 1998, p. 60). Becoming part of an athletic team on campus is one way to get involved, form new relationships and learn to interact closely with peers. However, in a time of uncertainty for women an incident such as hazing can present a huge hurtle in decision making and identity development for these individuals. “It is likely that many athletes put up with hazing activities to gain the social approval of their teammates. To speak out against even the most horrific incidents would ensure being ostracized from the team”(Waldron & Krane, 2005, p. 324). Women who are just beginning to explore their identity are likely to fall victim to being hazed so they do not jeopardize their position on the team. Senior and more popular members of the team are able to set the standard for many that look up to them. They have the power on the team to establish certain criteria for other members to fit into the group. It is easy for women who are considered in the moratorium group to be taken advantage of by these senior members because they look to them for approval and acceptance.

Moratorium women are also characterized by their behavior. While in college moratorium women can behave in ways that do not win the approval of their parents (Evans et al., 1998). Hazing is certainly something that our society leads us to believe is unacceptable. Although there are those who favor some forms of hazing as a team building ritual, society has begun to see the negative effects that hazing can have all over the country even leading to death. “Although it is generally accepted that deaths due to hazing are underreported, 23 students died from hazing incidents in 2000, 24 in 2001, and 42 in 2002” (Nuwer, 2003 in Campo, Poulos, & Sipple, 2005, p. 137). Certainly being hazed as part of membership on an athletic team is not something that would be acceptable to parents. To the women involved in hazing, it marks a rebellion against their parents and a quest for their individual identity. Although moratorium women may not directly be looking to become involved with things that may disappoint their parents, often times their behavior turns out to be something their parents would not agree with.

Women who are identified as moratorium look to others for approval and how to build their life and establish their identity. Allowing others on their team to make decisions for them, these women athletes are likely to look up to those who are in the position to haze them. Women want to feel validated and putting themselves in a position to be hazed by senior members they may gain the respect of those members of the team. Conversely, if these women speak out about a hazing incident while it occurs or after is has occurred they surely will not win the approval of those members to whom they look to build their own personal identity.

Finally, “moratorium status occurs when the individual internalizes the paradox that there are many ways ‘to be right” (Evans et al., 1998, p. 60). Before reaching moratorium status individuals have learned their families’ values and believe that there is only one way to be and identify oneself. As women begin to realize that there are many other ways of being they are overwhelmed, which brings about an experimental time of searching for identity. As moratorium women show an openness for other ways of being they may accept things such as hazing without knowing that this may not be an acceptable way of identifying themselves. Allowing exploration of many different ways of being opens women up to many different life experiences. Being hazed by other members of a team will certainly contribute to more identity conflict for these women. By the end of college some moratorium women are still caught in this identity conflict and cannot move beyond it (Evans et al., 1998). Being hazed by other members of their team, may cause moratorium women to be stuck in the phase of inconsistency even longer. Moratorium women do not have the full achievement of their identity in order to make the decisions that will allow them to progress further in their development. As they learn and nurture these different ways of knowing and being to find themselves, they should be allowed this in an environment without such negative actions that have resulted in inexplicable deaths.

In conclusion, hazing remains an important issue in our society today. With the number of deaths rising due to these cruel acts of initiation it is important that we explore many different avenues and ways to understand how and why this remains to be an issue. Student development theories are one way to look at and explore possibilities of students’ involvement in hazing activities. Josselson’s theory has provided a lens through which to examine women who identify with being in a moratorium status. Instability, behavior and the internalization of many ways to be has shed light on why women athletes may allow themselves to be hazed by other members of their team. These insights may help practitioners better explain why women in this position cannot just say no or do not have the courage to speak up against those who have the power to haze. Further exploration and explanation of hazing can help society identify ways to eliminate this often unimaginable treatment of individuals.

References

Campo, S., Poulos, G., & Sipple, J.W. (2005). Prevalence and profiling: Hazing among collage students and points of intervention. American Journal of Health Behavior, 29(2), pp. 137-149.

CBS News (2003, May 8). Criminal charges possible in hazing. Retrieved December 9, 2005 , http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/08/national/main552876.shtml

Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., & Guido-Dibrito, F. (1998). Student development in college. San Francisco , CA : Jossey-Bass.

Nuwer, H. (1999). Wrongs of passage: fraternities, sororities, hazing, and binge drinking. Bloomington : Indiana University Press.

Waldron, J. J., & Krane, V. (2005). Whatever it takes: Health compromising behaviors in female athletes. Quest , 57, pp. 315-329.