The Importance Of Hazing In The Military

For the last five years I have been an indirect victim, and even though I was not the one personally being victimized, I still got the second hand effects on behalf of my junior Marines.

While my fellow Marines are built to abide by our motto; honor, courage and commitment. Some definitely have brought shame to the brand I took pride in. Which brings me to a topic I feel very strong about as I could relate to it during my military experience and now in college; why hazing shouldn’t be a process when joining a Fraternity as it ruins the integrity of the institution.

As a married man, I had the privilege of living off campus; an ever so simple life. But sadly, I recall countless nights that I would get called to the barracks for immediate help.

So it’s common to accept any form of hazing a seniority figure found necessary to complete the bonding process when you arrive to your initial duty station. Hazing, or how they liked to formally call it as “Traditions”, is supposed to bring the group closer together. I would like to take a moment to recognize the “Stockholm Syndrome” in comparison to this statement. As such, research has shown that being subject to pain will have tremendous psychological symptoms. The victim starts feeling loyalty toward the group and eventually that feeling of abuse becomes more acceptable. Older members depart and new members fulfill those spots and the cycle just replicates its self. The abused becomes the abuser. They want to share their “Traditions” because its old fair since it happened to them. The process was designed to promote discipline and cultivates shared pride but to what extend is pain and humiliation is tolerable before someone hurts themselves? How about over 60 death reported to fraternity hazing since 2005. In perspective, that’s averages out to about 7 death a year and one related incident that could be linked to a university would bring a lot of media attention and could potentially shut a chapter