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COPYRIGHT 2007 University of South Alabama
"Rites de passage," puberty rites, and other forms of initiation into tribal membership or adult status have existed throughout human history (Van Gennep, 1977). Although these behaviors may reflect abuse cycles in which victims become perpetrators (Nuwer, 1990; 2001; Ramzy & Bryant, 1962), it has been suggested that these practices were functional in the adaptations of human groups to a mostly hostile physical and social environment (Jones, 2000; Weisfeld, 1979). Indeed, effortful or painful initiations may have been adaptive in the training of armies by complex societies, and it would appear to be another easy generalization to the setting of team sports, as athletic competition between various groups developed. Whatever the earlier history of these practices may have been, they are clearly manifest in modern times (Campo, Poulos, & Sipple, 2005; Finkel, 2002; Hoover, 1999). Known now as "hazing," the practice of subjecting initiates, whether to a fraternity, a service club, a school, or an interscholastic, collegiate or professional sports team, to effortful, painful, or embarrassing rituals has been widespread (Nuwer, 1990, 2001,2006).
Due to a number of social and other factors, hazing in sport is no longer deemed to be acceptable behavior (Johnson & Hohnan, 2004). Indeed, 44 states currently have laws on the books designed to curtail hazing with specific penalties for hazing and for failing to report hazing (www.stophazing.org/laws.html). Enforcement of anti-hazing laws has increased due to a rash of hazing related negative outcomes including serious injury and death as well as increased institutional liability for hazing related claims (MacLachlan, 2000). For example, the University of Vermont cancelled their team's ice hockey season in 2000 due to a hazing incident. Other sport hazing violations have led to fines, expulsion, withholding of diplomas, and prison terms (Crow & Rosner, 2002). Given the strong anti-hazing sentiment, legislation, and enforcement, the question can be raised, has hazing been eliminated or does hazing in sport still occur?
The difficulty in asking about illegal behaviors in general and hazing in particular is that people are cautious reporting their association with these activities. For example Hoover (1999) found that only 12% of the 61,258 athletes surveyed reported being hazed. However, when asked about involvement with specific activities and not hazing per se, 80% reported being subjected to one or more typical hazing behaviors as part of their team initiations.
One way of assessing the prevalence of hazing in sport is to look to the news media. Although it is likely that the media under report hazing due to secrecy and other issues, the incidents of hazing (if any) that are reported in the media are often those that are the most highly visible (Nuwer, 2006).
A LexisNexis search of over 18,000 news-related sources, including newspapers, journals, wire services, and transcripts of TV broadcasts was conducted for the keyword "hazing" within sports news stories for the calendar year ending January 7, 2004. A total of 154 articles were located, 150 of which described hazing in sport. These articles described 62 separate incidents of hazing from a variety of sports (see Table 1).
The types of hazing that were reported in these articles varied in tone from mild, light-hearted stories (e.g., embarrassing professional athletes by making them wear odd clothes) to reports of severe and dangerous incidents (e.g., charges being filed for sexual assault). The following examples provide a sense of the range and severity of hazing activities.
One article described an investigation of an assault by four soccer players, aged 13 to 17, on one of their teammates who refused to submit to hazing at a preseason practice. The player who refused to be hazed was hospitalized for his injuries (Sandoval, 2002, September 6). Another soccer-related incident was reported concerning a high school freshman who was taped to a goalpost and then had soccer balls kicked at him (Belz, 2003, October 1). Quarterback Patrick Ramsey was also taped to a goalpost when he reached the professional level with the Washington Redskins, but had a bucket of ice dumped on his head (Redskins veterans initiate Ramsey, 2002, August 9). He stated, "You almost consider it an honor. You've grown up seeing this happen to rookies, and now it's your turn" (p. 3-D). A high school freshman wrestler reported he was subjected to beatings by his teammates (Bondy, 2004, January 5). These "red belly" spankings were reportedly encouraged by the coach as a way to administer discipline and attitude adjustment. Another report described how rookies on the Denver Broncos had maple syrup and flour poured on them while they were sleeping (Schetter, 2003, July 31). Rookie players also typically carried helmets and equipment for the veterans. Ori the Colorado Rockies, rookie players were forced to wear clown shoes, platform shoes, stretch t-shirts that exposed their midriffs, and adult diapers in an effort to embarrass them, "all in fun" (Renck, 2002, September 27). One of the worst reports of hazing involved a Methodist College football player who accused his teammates of beating and sodomizing him (Football player, 2002, December 14). Teammates pinned him to a locker room floor, stripped him, wrote on his buttocks with a marker, and then sodomized him with the marker. The hazers were charged with second-degree sexual offense.
Given the strong legal deterrents to hazing now in place, one may ask, "why does hazing in sport continue?" A number of answers to that question have been provided in the popular press, including the suggestion that hazing is part of team tradition and is...
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