We feel the solution to hazing is abolishing the Pledge process I truly believe that if the pledging process was not in that my son would still be here my son didn’t die from The Hazing ritual that was that night he died when he started the process of the pledging which was
The grooming process we want the pledge process removed so no one has to lose their young son or daughter again just by joining a Greek organization I want to bring Gregory Parks into the conversation he is a nationally known expert on the psychology of hazing a former fraternity brother himself and a
Professor at Wake Forest University he also testified for the prosecution in Stone’s trial Gregory thank you so much for joining us thank you for having me look everybody is looking at this and and scratching their head about how this could happen over and over and over help us understand this
I would categorize for motivations for seeking membership and for example a fraternity of sorority and also sticking with the process when it goes bad one is just lack of knowledge not knowing what a true definition of hazing is assuming uh having assumptions about the utility of hazing for example bonding
And tradition misperceptions about what other candidates or new members are willing to tolerate and not knowing the true risks the second thing I’d say is there are individuals who are seeking legitimacy through belonging in an organization they desire to be accepted by peers they have a need for self-esteem and
Achievement and the hierarchical Dynamics that are at play when an individual decides to let or not let you be a part of their organization can can create some strange Dynamics third there are individuals who are seeking to be a part of a legacy whether that be a
Grandfather a father or Uncle a close a close family member who’s a member of an organization and then there are individuals who feel like things may be going bad but I’ve already invested a lot of time energy money in this uh and and trying to be a part of this
Organization let me invest just a little bit more in hopes that things will turn out right you know this kind of gets into cognitive dissonance right cognitive dissonance just describes a situation where it’s the state of having inconsistent thoughts beliefs or attitudes especially as relating to a behavioral decision or attitude change
It’s like in in the fraternity situation it’s like you’ve convinced yourself to resolve that discomfort of this is something I would never do I this isn’t me but this is a great organization so it’s worth it I think the thing I would add is that it’s not always conscious
A young man a young woman isn’t always walking through and explaining this to themselves sometimes it can be quite subconscious and when you’re in the moment that pressure can be really strong do you have a story or a question for me click the link in the description and
Tell me what in the world is going on
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