Becoming "Bros": Hegemonic Masculinity and Peer Effects in the Hazing Rituals of College Fraternities

Although prevention efforts exist on many college campuses, hazing remains a continual threat to the well-being of students in social organizations. Acts of hazing committed by current group members vary in levels of emotional and physical harm to initiates. My research seeks potential risk factors for more relatively extreme forms of hazing, examining a link between the groups' performance of masculinity and the severity of aggression and violence enacted by members in their hazing rituals. At a single university, I conducted thirteen interviews with brothers in four all-male social fraternities - two exhibiting low-level and two exhibiting moderate-level hazing behaviors. From this data, I identified three salient themes that contributed to differences in hazing severity: conceptual perceptions of hazing; performance of masculinities; and isolation from non-fraternity social life. In this paper, I explore these findings and offer recommendations for future hazing prevention efforts, especially those targeted toward college fraternities.