Background: Literature draws attention to the relationships between the initial experiences of students as they begin their higher education and how they fare subsequently. In Portugal, the new student's reception is ritualised by tradition, and involves the organisation of an entire integration ceremony (known as "praxe") proposed…

Recently there have been several sensational reports of serious consequences of freshmen initiation rites at Thai universities. The purpose of this study was to investigate Thai freshmen students' perceptions of the faculty initiation process. For this study, roughly 1,000 freshmen students took a pre-test during the first week of their…

This collective case study examined the experiences of four African American gay band students attending historically Black colleges or universities (HCBUs) in the southern United States. This study explored influences that shaped the participants' identities as they negotiated numerous complex sociocultural discourses pervasive and challenging to…

This book provides potential answers to reduce deviant behavior and crime in colleges and universities. Claiming that the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois shootings were aberrations, the authors have nevertheless uncovered offenses that presage major criminal incidents, such as students' engaging in cheating, plagiarism, binge drinking, date…

The purpose of this book is to examine violence on college campuses and prepare campus practitioners to both prevent and respond to violence. Since the first edition was published, major violence has redefined the landscape, most notably the experiences of 9/11 and the tragedy of the Virginia Tech massacre. On the positive side, however, great…

"Catalyst" is a publication of the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention. This issue contains the following articles: (1) The National Study of Student Hazing Initial Findings; (2) The Social Norms Marketing Research Project--An Update; (3) Message From William Modzeleski,…

The practice of requiring others to engage in activities that humiliate, degrade, abuses, and/or endangers them in order to join an organization is becoming increasingly prevalent on college campuses and beyond. These activities have resulted in physical and emotional scars are well as lead to deaths. Using Racial Identity Theory and Social…

The Higher Education Center's 2002 publication "Preventing Violence and Promoting Safety in Higher Education Settings: Overview of a Comprehensive Approach," outlines a framework for addressing a broad array of violence issues in college and university communities. This document outlines specific considerations in applying this approach to the…

Written with clarity and passion, "Preventing Hazing" uncovers the deep roots of hazing, how and why it permeates schools, colleges, and communities, and what parents, teachers, and coaches can do to prevent it. The author shows how to recognize the warning signs, what to do if a student has been involved in a hazing (either as a victim,…

Hazing in public schools is a significant problem that may result in serious physical or emotional harm to students who are victims. According to experts in the field, each year more than 1,500,000 American students become new hazing victims. Hazing also results in legal challenges for school personnel. The courts consider public schools to be…

In this longitudinal ethnographic research, we report on 7 years of hazing rituals on two separate men's sports teams at one university in the United Kingdom. Using 38 in-depth interviews alongside naturalistic observations of the initiation rituals, we demonstrate that hazing activities have changed from being centered around homophobic same-sex…

While collegiate fraternity and sorority hazing are well documented problems that receive prominent attention, hazing at the high school level is also a serious issue. Across the nation, media headlines offer a continual reminder that high school hazing is not a phenomenon of the past. As high school principals seek ways to discourage and…

Outbreaks of violence at education institutions typically do not rise to the horrific levels of Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, or Oikos University. But incidents that threaten school security--bullying, hazing, online harassment--take place in every month of the year and may occur in any classroom or campus from coast to coast. Schools and…

Hazing is the beast in academe's basement, often lurking unseen and unreported, only to rise again and again despite countless rules and zero-tolerance policies. It takes many forms, some physically violent, some emotionally cruel, some booze-soaked, some silly. Since 1970, colleges have seen at least one hazing-related fatality each year, and the…

The hazing death of Florida A&M (FAMU) drum major Robert Champion and the long-concealed child sexual abuse by Jerry Sandusky at Penn State University have prompted an intense focus within higher education on how campus leaders should respond in times of crisis, particularly one involving suspected criminal activity. Experts say college leaders…