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Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking


by Hank Nuwer

List Price: $19.95
Price: $14.96
You Save: $4.99 (25%)
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Sales Rank: 161540
Studio: Indiana University Press
Binding: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 360
Publication Date: January 01, 2002
Publisher: Indiana University Press


EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Book Description
Well known author Hank Nuwer (Broken Pledges), in a hard-hitting investigation of hazing and binge drinking in Greek fraternities and sororities, recounts the breakdown of common sense, civility, and leadership in American college fraternal life.

What forces young men and women to accept inhuman, degrading rituals in order to belong to a social club, sorority, or fraternity? Are they the same forces that have made college binge drinking a national epidemic? Why do college administrators and Greek fraternities and sororities continue to allow practices that frequently lead to death or permanent physical and psychological damage? Why are black fraternities more prone to violent rites of passage than their white counterparts?

After an in-depth look at the problem, Nuwer offers a detailed final chapter, with a list of strategies for society in general, parents, college administrators, fraternities, and the police for combatting these demeaning and dangerous practices.



CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 8 reviews)

Loaded with hazing incidents, but short on thought or analysis  
This book should be appreciated for what it is, a collection of college hazing examples. It is written more like a reference book than anything else. There are many, many, stories about how Greek fraternity (and sorority) members died or were seriously injured in senseless hazing and prank incidents. The tales of idiotic jokes and barbaric rituals are disconcerting because you realize that people actually lost their lives over such trivial matters. But, what the book fails to do is to present a coherent picture of the hazing problem or a useful analysis of why it is so prevalent.

Read this book if you want examples and anecdotes about actual hazing incidents and a bibliography of further resources. There is also a 43 page appendix titled "A chronology of deaths" that exemplifies what the book really is, a reference guide. I imagine that anyone interested in this book realizes that hazing, hell weeks, and frat pranks are all malicious and senseless. I believe that Nuwer is doing a service by documenting these tragedies, but after the 50th story about a college kid drinking himself to death while his "friends" laugh and watch, the book gets redundant quickly.
July 02, 2006

jaded lenses should do some research  
Hank Nuwer, the author of this book, WAS in fact a member of a greek organization. Although he wouldn't reveal to me which one, it would explain to me how he knew so much about the inner workings of a fraternity. And, incidently, he is not against the abolition of fraternities either - so before you go off on someone next time, do a little research, it helps.
May 02, 2003

Jaded lenses  
If the challenge is to Greeks to read about the horrors of hazing, I think it should from a different source. I am quite tired of non-Greeks painting fraternities and sororities as these black-hearted, behind-closed-doors operations. National Fraternities (to my experience, since I am male) generally have anti-hazing speeches before pledging and have the pledges sign vows that they will report hazing. This text focuses on the ugliness and mistakes of a few and generalizes it to the whole population. I think that the hazing described here is from our parents' past and not what goes on now. I am sick of groups of men and women who rally behind a few Greek letters getting more criticism than any similar group (eg. athletics teams) who don't have such letters. Hazing for sports teams is still rampant... don't blame the Greeks.
February 27, 2003

Stereotyping is wrong  
On a firsthand basis, I have experienced what it has been like to be a pledge and I have to say, many people mis-label and are deceived into thinking that all sororities and fraternities haze, and are into drinking/drugs. The California State University campus that I attend requires the rushees to sign a form stating that no hazing, drinking, or drugs will be involved with the recruitment process. I wasn't completely sure anyway, but they were right. At all of the houses we attended involved with the Panhellenic Council, (that forbids hazing, drinking, and drugs with recruitment), the other rushees and I were only greeted with smiles and friendly faces, waiting to be invited into the house of our choice. This is not saying that I do not believe hazing goes on anywhere, just that while looking into being a pledge, research what the process is all about, before you label sororities and fraternities as hazing, drinking, and drug parties.
September 12, 2001

An important contribution and a must read.  
Having brought attention to the dangers of hazing in his first book Broken Pledges, Hank Nuwer expands on this work with Wrongs of Passage and makes another outstanding contribution to the literature on hazing. He elucidates the dangers of hazing from many angles, and while coining the term "greekthink," takes an important step in describing the often elusive dynamics which enable hazing to persist.

Wrongs of Passage is a commendable achievement and a valuable resource for students, parents, teachers, school administrators and others. Having first hand experience with hazing as a victim, perpetrator and anti-hazing educator, I gained yet another perspective by reading Wrongs of Passage. The knowledge and sensitivity that Hank Nuwer brings to the subject of hazing is unparalleled. I found his history of hazing enlightening, his first-hand accounts heart-wrenching and his strategies for change a sorely needed call to action. This is not a "fraternity-bashing" tirade but rather an in-depth analysis of hazing from multiple perspectives. Hank Nuwer shames those who continue to participate in hazing, and lauds those that have taken positive steps to eradicate these deadly practices. This book should be required reading by students, teachers, parents, and anyone who works with and cares about the future of our nation's youth.
January 29, 2000



SIMILAR PRODUCTS

The Hazing Reader
by Hank Nuwer

Inside Greek U.: Fraternities, Sororities, and the Pursuit of Pleasure, Power, and Prestige
by Alan D. DeSantis

Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities
by Alexandra Robbins

Black Greek 101: The Culture, Customs, and Challenges of Black Fraternities and Soroities
by Walter M. Kimbrough

Preventing Hazing: How Parents, Teachers, and Coaches Can Stop the Violence, Harassment, and Humiliation
by Susan Lipkins
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