My vague topic idea of Greek life (mainly sorority life) hasn't changed much since blog #1. However, after doing a little research I've realized that since I know a little less about fraternity culture, hazing among boys and the reasons for it, I want to add in the fraternity aspect. Hazing is so big in the media right now and it intrigues most who it doesn't affect because it is so hard for those not involved to understand why student's would take on so much torture to be apart of something that is ultimately hurting them and their future in college.
One reading that I've really enjoyed learning more about hazing from is The Influence of Fraternity and Sorority Involvement: A Critical Analysis of Research (1996-2013), by J. Patrick Biddix, Malinda M. Matney, and Eric M. Norman. After describing a fraternity hazing scene right before initiation of the brother's that involved making them all strip naked, the authors describing hazing rituals as ranging from "ridiculous to truly criminal, occasionally becoming lethal as well." It is then explained that even though college years are supposed to bet the best of your life, this lethal fun is truly just a need for validation among your peers that's just plain cruel behavior.
When researching online for possible contrary beliefs to the cruelness of hazing and its detrimental effects I found an article by the Livingston Country News called Greek Life Can Have Community Benefits. This intrigued me because it actually involved Rutgers Greek community. However, they speak about the "highly valued volunteer events run by individual organizations." These events are backed locally and a lot of them give back to the community with monetary rewards following. It's interesting to see the community arguing that this may somehow balance all the bad PR that greek life gets.
Hazing is an interesting topic. One approach with a project like this is to begin by identifying an interesting case -- preferably relatively recent and with a lot of details made public, whether in popular or academic sources. Sometimes beginning with the case that interests you can help to focus your research, so you can look into the specific issues that the case itself raises -- such as the abuse of alcohol often part of these rituals. Alternately, you might focus on the theory of why hazing is practiced and think about why hazing persists despite so many efforts to put an end to it.
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