Hazing culture ascribed as need to fit in

YOUNGSTOWN — Tradition and a need to belong are some of the motivations behind why some students subject themselves to hazing, according to a University of Maine professor who has studied the issue.

Nine men, mostly Youngstown State University alumni, have been charged with felonious

assault in what authorities have termed hazing of two YSU students.

The beatings, which occurred off-campus over a period of weeks, injured one of the young men so severely that he was in the hospital and on a ventilator for several days.

The university has suspended the local chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Mary Madden, an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Maine, is co-author of a study about hazing, which surveyed students from college campuses across the country.

“As far as why students participate, there’s lots of theories about that,” she said. “The need to belong — wanting to belong to something is a natural part of the development period for college students."

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