(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Allegations of hazing by Northwestern’s football team show how the problem persists among teams, fraternities and other organizations — despite efforts to ban it.
Ken Pendleton, a senior researcher at the Sports Conflict Institute in Oregon, said hazing dehumanizes players and sends a message.
“Your body is our body. You’re a commodity. You’re supposed to sacrifice your individuality for the sake of the team,” he said. “You could view it possibly as being something that’s homoerotic or homophobic, but I think it’s really about power.”
Pendleton added that hazing has been twisted by some into team building.
“To understand it, you have to think of how someone can construe their constructive benefit because that person is now malleable,” Pendleton said. “You know you can get that person to do basically anything.”
Hans Skulstad, a mental fitness coach from Minnesota, said hazing or inappropriate conduct on a team often generates shame, which makes it harder for players to speak up.
“When you have rules like … ‘What happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room,’ what happens is that creates a culture of secrecy,” Skulstad said. “Well, what happened at Penn State?”
When hazing gets cloaked as tradition or a rite of passage, both men said that can further inhibit a person’s willingness to report the behavior. They encouraged parents and coaches to explicitly state what’s not allowed. Anything involving nudity, Skulstad said, should be a bright line for teams not to cross.
“Context matters,” Skulstad said. “What might be something, to me, that is harmless fun and pranks and might be traumatizing to someone else, is different.”
Skulstad and Pendleton said parents should also watch for any signs of potential hazing, and to be sure to remove any stigma from speaking up.
In the days following the Northwestern hazing scandal, at least three incoming freshman football players have backed out of their commitment to play football at the school.
One of them — Joliet Catholic defensive tackle Dillan Johnson — has already found a new home at Wisconsin. Another, linebacker Julius Tate, said on social media that he has already received three scholarship offers elsewhere.
According to Wildcat Report, of the 19 other recruits who signed commitments to join Northwestern football, at least five have used Twitter to either affirm their commitments or at least show support for Fitzgerald and the staff left behind.
Related
Related
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!