Rituals are a series of actions or type of behavior which is regularly and invariably followed by the someone (Bell, 1977); in sports, rituals are always there. According to Murphy (2016), hazing refers to the practice of rituals, challenges, and activities such as harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group including a new fraternity, sorority, team, or club. Hazing is seen in different social groups such as gangs, sports teams, schools, and military units.
The initiation rites range from relatively gentle pranks to prolonged patterns of behavior that rise to the level of abuse or criminal misconduct. In colleges and universities hazing is prohibited by law as it may include physical or psychological abuse or even sexual abuse. A hazing event does not require the use of weapons, tools, objects, or liquids only to be a hazing event as abusive words may end up causing hazing; therefore a hazing event does not only include weapons and objects but also abusive words. Hazing cannot occur without spoken words as people or a group of people can behave in a manner that is not friendly towards others and ends up causing a hazing event. Body languages and signs can also cause a hazing event thus a hazing is not caused by spoken words.
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Treating one group of people different from the rest is discrimination; if a team treats the first year athletes differently from the rest it is a sign of hazing unless the team treats its first year athletes that differently. If not the other members may feel neglected and not considers and this may cause a hazing event. If a team conducts fitness related test off school grounds and without supervision is not a hazing event but that is just an additional training.
Reference
Bell, Catherine. (1997). Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions . Oxford University Press.
Murphy, Martin. (2015). Independent investigation report - Sexual Abuse at St. George's School and the School's Response .
