Male team sport hazing initiations in a culture of decreasing homohysteria

Eric Anderson*, Mark McCormack, Harry Lee

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

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 activities to focusing on extreme levels of alcohol consumption. We show that whereas same-sex activities once occurred paradoxically to prohibit them, today these initiations open up the possibility of same-sex behaviors for young men in the life stage of emergent adulthood.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)427-448
Number of pages22
JournalJournal of Adolescent Research
Volume27
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Jul 2012

Keywords

  • college issues
  • gender
  • peers/friends
  • risk behavior
  • sexuality

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