Military Hazing Essay

According to the National Collaborative for Hazing Research and Prevention, “hazing is defined as any activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person’s willingness to participate.” (Prevention, n.d.). Hazing takes place across the United States, in military institutions, colleges, clubs, and even sports teams. While it is hard to track, this issue has been proven to be harmful to all those involved. Some people think hazing is okay because it is an initiation to be part of the club, but they do not call it hazing or think of it that way. Some people are completely against hazing and think of it as a form of bullying. Hazing has become a wide spread issue not only in the military and college, but also across the United States. It has become so common that soldiers are now getting hurt, being embarrassed, and some are even taking their lives. New and incoming personnel in the military are usually the subjects of hazing. Hazing often occurs in elite military units, rather than in traditional units. There can be a

When someone is hazed, knowledge of their past is not taken into consideration. Hazing can cause someone to have PTSD. It has the potential to bring back bad memories from their past. The issues that can occur from this may not be immediate; it could take time for some of the symptoms to appear. Some long-term effects from hazing are difficulty-forming relationships, not trusting others, a loss of interest in being part of an organization, and poor performance. There can be long-term issues that can occur with hazing, depending on the individual and their circumstances. In the military, these can be terrible conditions for soldiers to work in. Alteration of a soldier’s performance and trust due to an event like this would be tragic and likely be