Initiating a New Perspective: The Prevalence, Perceptions, and Attitudes Towards Hazing Across Student Organizations on a College Campus

Hazing is a widespread problem occurring on college campuses across the United States. This current study explored the prevalence, perceptions, and attitudes towards hazing at a medium-sized mid-west university. Specifically, the researchers were interested in undergraduate students’ involvement, attitudes toward hazing, and identification within student groups at the medium-sized university, Notably, though hazing is defined, it has been seen that students’ often do not identify the behaviors as such. Using a web-based questionnaire, a random sample of 1,300 undergraduate students at the participating university were asked questions regarding their participation and victimization of hazing behaviors. Results revealed that 53.8% of college students have a clear understanding of the hazing policy at their university. Sleep deprivation and associating with specific people and not others are hazing practices commonly reported. To date, hazing research on college campuses has focused on Greek life and sports while examining a generalized portion of demographic factors. Findings from this current study will target and identify hazing behaviors within a larger scale of student groups and identify demographical differences. Further, these quantitative results can be used for hazing prevention measures across college/universities