This report documents research focused on helping the Department of Defense build a more-systematic approach to hazing prevention and response. The report documents theory and research on the root causes of hazing and findings and recommendations regarding how best to define hazing, practices to prevent and respond to incidents of hazing, and how the armed forces can improve the tracking of hazing incidents.

This report addresses ways to improve the armed forces' definition of hazing, the effects of and motivations for hazing, how the armed forces can prevent and respond to hazing, and how the armed forces can improve the tracking of hazing incidents.

CONTENTS: Executive Summary on Hazing in the Military Hazing: A Military Study In the Military: A Pilot Study Perceptions of Hazing and Bullying among U.S. Military Service Members The Shift from Acceptance to Prevention Background Hazing in the military began as a celebration of accomplishments and strengthening of unit bonds. However, it has in some cases transformed through time into degrading and demeaning acts with the potential for deadly consequences. All services find acts of hazing punishable under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) law, yet, it still occurs. At the same time, it is important to note the distinctions between hazing and bullying (see Appendix A). Task: In January of 2012, the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) was tasked with the examination of hazing within the military. Definitions and the Current State of Military Hazing The concept of hazing within the military is unique. Hazing intermingles with other concepts, such as discrimination, racist behaviors, anti-locution (see Appendix J), bullying, and even acceptance, pride, and teamwork. The following conceptual areas outline these important attributes within hazing in the military. Historical and Current Events: Unfortunately, hazing is not a unique phenomenon, and often pervades most military branches and their specialty communities‘ cultures. The military Service branches currently lack a method to accurately gauge the prevalence of hazing behaviors. Still, the conventional wisdom maintains that many members engage in hazing behaviors (see Appendix B). Evidence of this is easily noted by searching the web or social media sites. Events such as what occurred at Aberdeen Proving Ground can be used to pave the way ahead and prevent similar events from happening. Definitions: All Services have defined hazing (see Appendix C). These definitions are followed by examples of specific hazing behaviors, the effects of hazing on the individual, and the potential ramifications for the Services if hazing is allowed to occur. Lacking Definition is Bullying: It is possible that what may be missing is a written distinction between bullying and hazing. The Department of Defense‘s (DoD) definition of hazing for example only includes hazing behaviors. The militaries of Canada and the UK have separate hazing and bullying policies. It is possible this may reduce the confusion and increase avenues for prosecution. Furthermore distinction may also serve to ensure many such acts are not seen and potentially excused as tradition or indoctrination. Distinguishing Bullying from Hazing: The terms bullying and hazing share some likeness; similar to the parallels between discrimination and bullying, the behaviors associated with hazing and bullying may be identical at times; however, bullying and hazing are distinct constructs. These differences are Not delineated in current policies are procedures. Based on the literature, what we may be witnessing with recent events may actually be act of bullying and not hazing. Policies/Programs Regarding Bullying: Currently there are no policies that address specifically bullying. In the UK and Canada there are policies and programs to prevent bullying Punishment of Hazing without Severe Consequences: The extent of prosecution of acts of hazing that do not result in death or destruction is unknown. Institutionalized hazing is known to occur and remains difficult to probe.

Initiations and rites of passage can instill esprit de corps and loyalty and are included in many traditions throughout the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Coast Guard. However, at times these, and more ad hoc activities, have included cruel or abusive behavior that can undermine unit cohesion and operational effectiveness. Congress included a provision in statute for the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on DOD, including each of the military services, and Coast Guard policies to prevent, and efforts to track, incidents of hazing. This book addresses the extent to which DOD and the Coast Guard, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), have developed and implemented policies to address incidents of hazing; and visibility over hazing incidents involving servicemembers.

When Oscar Booze entered West Point in 1898, the older cadets decided that he did not conform to their image of what a cadet should be. After four months of constant torment, including a beating in an organized boxing match, ridicule for reading his Bible, and the forced consumption of hot sauce in the cadet mess hall, he resigned. When Oscar died a year and a half later from tuberculosis of the larynx, his family claimed that the West Point cadets had killed their son by scarring his throat and creating a fertile field for the fatal infection. This is the story of the ensuing scandal that brought West Point under fire in the press nationwide. Investigations following Oscar's death would reveal a long-standing pattern of cruelty that had become inextricably identified with the academy, related to notions of social Darwinism and initiation rituals popular at the time. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate considered closing the Academy in light of testimony by cadets in two separate investigations that revealed cruel and sadistic practices. Distilling startling accounts from trial transcripts, contemporary newspaper stories, archival records and correspondence, this book exposes a little-known chapter in the history of West Point.

In contemporary armies, violence among soldiers seems to be a universal phenomenon found in both professional and drafted armies. However, the comparison of violent practices in various armies around the world allows us to identify specific features linked to those countries' sociological, political or anthropological contexts. Hazing, for example, seems to be more violent in the armies of transitional societies (Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America), where social tensions encountered by citizens in their daily lives are carried over to, and sometimes intensified in, the military. The comparison of Russian dedovshchina with the situation in other countries makes it possible to identify universal, transitional and national characteristics of military violence.Contents: Konstantin Bannikov on the consequences of the spread throughout society of archaic violence produced by the Russian army; Anna Colin Lebedev on the perception of military violence in Russian society; Anton Oleynik on informal relationships among prisoners and conscripts; Kirill Podrabinek on the reasons of the prevalence of dedovshchina in the post-Soviet context; Igor Obraztsov on the historical roots of dedovshchina; Vadim Mikhailin on the role of language in the military milieu; Julie Elkner on the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers; Bakit Katchekeyev on hazing in the Kyrgyz army; Irakli Sesiashvili on hazing in the Georgian army; Hana Cervinkova on hazing in the Czech army; James Wither on bullying in the British army; Eduardo Paes-Machado & Carlos Linhares de Albuquerque on hazing in the Brazilian police; Joris Van Bladel on dedovshchina and the all-volunteer force.

This report addresses ways to improve the armed forces definition of hazing, the effects of and motivations for hazing, how the armed forces can prevent and respond to hazing, and how the armed forces can improve the tracking of hazing incidents."