134340
Victims of hazing after the law was enacted
1682719
Reported victims of hazing since 1954
178472
Year when the first version of Anti-Hazing Law was passed
Atio joined the list of 20 reported victims of hazing since the first Anti-Hazing Law was passed in 1995.
In an interview with the Varsitarian, Carmina said Aegis Juris officers “fooled and deceived” her son when they did not inform him that hazing would be part of their initiation rites.
Despite the number of hazing-related deaths, experts said students are still lured into joining fraternities as they find a “sense of involvement and belonging” where they could feel accepted.
“From a psychological perspective, people join groups in order to satisfy man’s basic need to belong, to be affiliated with someone or something and the need to be accepted,” said psychologist Ryan Francis Cayubit in an interview.
Cayubit, who teaches at the College of Science, said membership to these groups also boost one’s self-esteem and confidence.
Moreover, students who join fraternities have an “illusion” of having total control over their actions during initiation.
“It is like believing that you can ask others to stop hurting you during the hazing rite, simply because you told them so,” he said.
Another psychologist, John Manuel Kliatchko, who teaches at the Faculty of Arts and Letters, said there was a strong belief among students that death from hazing during initiation rites was unlikely to happen.
“The belief that a [hazing fraternity death] would not happen to [them] or that a fraternity is different from others strengthens potential members’ notions that they will not end up the same way as those fraternity neophytes whose deaths had been attributed to hazing,” he said.
Joining fraternities
A fraternity member who spoke on condition of anonymity said some of his fraternity brothers joined the group to gain connections, while some wanted to prove that they could surpass the difficult initiation process.
“My other brods joined for security and connections… Others had deeper family-related reasons and others wanted to prove themselves to everyone, because our frat is notorious for having the most difficult initiations,” he said.
He said he joined the fraternity because he trusted his mentor, and looked forward to what the fraternity could offer him while in school and even beyond.
“Even though all the news we hear about [the fraternity] ay puro hazing-related, mga rumbles and fights, I really trusted him and what his fraternity had to offer,” he said.
Sociologist Mark Adrian Ignacio said fraternities attracted students because of the “values and objectives” that the groups possessed.
“In the past, frats really had good vision of society and community extension services. [I]t's more of how these organizations are fighting [for advocacies] that still attracts audience,” Ignacio said.
Kliatchko said that for neophytes, the “perceived benefits” of fraternity membership like academic assistance and moral support could outweigh the risks.
“This can be in the form of notes, tips to survive particular law professors [and] sample tests. In most cases, this support extends beyond law school, [like] acceptance in law firms and appointment to key positions both in government and private sector,” he said.
Family traditions and school recognition could also be deciding factors for students to join fraternities, Cayubit added.
‘Peer pressure’
Cayubit warned that joining fraternities could compromise a person’s values and principles due to peer pressure.
“For the negative—there could be a tendency to adopt the norm and culture of the fraternity to the extent that personal beliefs and values [would] get compromised especially if the students involved [had] a high need for affiliation,” he said.
Kliatchko said students could eventually adopt the characteristics and identities attached to their fraternities.
“In time, one’s fraternity membership effectively colors one’s own personal characteristics, since they become identified with the social group’s predominant qualities,” he said.