Hazing Identification and Prevention among High School Athletes

Abstract

Hazing has been a part of team sports for many years ranging from adolescent athletes to those athletes who compete at the professional level. Hazing has been justified to uphold traditions of the sport, establish a hierarchy among the players, developing acceptable social norms for the particular sport, and to create a sense of team togetherness or bonding. Hazing can have a severe impact for both the victim of hazing and sever consequences for perpetrators. By increasing awareness of hazing and establishing a definable difference between acceptable team bonding activities and inappropriate acts, hazing may become something that is no longer negatively associated with sports at all levels.