Northwestern University is facing multiple lawsuits after allegations that the football program had a hazing problem for years, including 鈥渇orced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature."
The scandal at the Big Ten school, which led to the firing of longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald, centers on a problem that extends far beyond sports, that often gets the headlines.
Studies have found that 48% high school students report being subjected to some form of hazing. An Alfred University study from 1999 also found that in high school and their recruiting trips were not always about a positive experience: 鈥淥ne in five was subjected to unacceptable and potentially illegal hazing. They were kidnapped, beaten or tied up and abandoned. They were also forced to commit crimes 鈥 destroying property, making prank phone calls or harassing others,鈥 the study found.
Experts say more, updated research is also needed.
WHY HAZING?
Experts say hazing is about an individual or group exerting power and control over others.
鈥淚f you understand hazing as a form of an abuse of power, then you can see how in those environments or group situations where people are jockeying for power or trying to enforce some kind of hierarchies, hazing is an easy way to kind of make clear who鈥檚 got the power,鈥 said Elizabeth Allan, a professor at the University of Main who has studied hazing.
SEXUAL ABUSE
Acts of hazing are frequently sexualized or can be classified as sexual assault. Allan said in a hyper-masculine situation that sexualized acts are often the most powerful ways for an individual or group to dominate others.
Susan Lipkins, a psychologist and researcher who studies hazing, said of sexualized hazing that it is 鈥渢he quickest way to humiliate someone and to make them powerless.鈥
Lipkins said that while more research would be beneficial, she believes hazing incidents are becoming more frequent, severe and sexualized.
IT IS CYCLICAL
Hazing newcomers to a team or group can became so ritualistic and traditional that it seems normal to those in the group.
Some of talked about the hazing they were subjected to early in their careers, and thinking that maybe this was just part of playing big-time college football.
"(T)he culture was so strong that we felt we had to go with it,鈥 former player Lloyd Yates said. 鈥淭here was a code of silence that felt insurmountable to break.鈥
鈥淭he abusive culture was especially devastating for many players of color,鈥 Yates added. Many of them were the first in their family to attend college and football was their 鈥渢icket to a better life.鈥
鈥淭hey had so much at stake and no voice or power to stop the abuse," he said.
Those who have been hazed often want to carry on the tradition and do the hazing when they are in a position of power. As Allan put it: 鈥淭his happened to me, therefore, that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e supposed to do and we鈥檙e not thinking beyond it.鈥
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said he doesn鈥檛 directly address hazing, but tries to create an environment where players trust coaches enough to come to them if they are having issues with the behavior of teammates.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no brotherhood that I know that starts with a level of abuse in the locker room,鈥 Lea said.
WHAT IS HAZING:
Even in professional sports there is a tradition of putting the rookies in their place. A younger player might carry the equipment of an older player or be forced to pick up a big tab at dinner. Baseball has a tradition of rookies being forced to wear silly costumes on road trips late in the season.
Alone, these acts seem harmless because usually no one gets hurt and rarely is physical or psychological intimidation involved. Experts warn they still set a bad precedent.
鈥淭hey send a message and create a dynamic where there are these expectations that some people have to do the grunt work, so to speak,鈥 Allan said.
CAN HAZING BE PREVENTED?
Countless attemps have been made to stop hazing, from specific rules in schools and prep athletics to that carry different forms of punishment. though it leaves anti-hazing rules and punishments to its member schools and
Former college football coach Gerry DiNardo, who led Vanderbilt, LSU and Indiana from the mid-1990s to early 2000s, said he actively discouraged hazing. DiNardo said he went so far as to make a team rule against joining fraternities that hazed their pledges.
Experts say that would be the most effective approach. Don't avoid specific discussins about hazing.
鈥淲e need to have visible messaging around expectations for behavior, and that includes what we do not tolerate,鈥 Allan said.
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AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed.
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