A comparison of hazing attitudes in Student Affairs professionals at select historically Black institutions of higher education in Tennessee
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to quantitatively compare the attitudes of Student Affairs professionals in four historically Black institutions of higher education in Tennessee as they relate to hazing. Furthermore, the objectives of this study were to: (1) Determine if Student Affairs professionals have attitudes that reflect low levels of training and awareness in the area of hazing; (2) Enable historically Black institutions of higher education in Tennessee to assess the preparedness of their Student Affairs professionals to identify and deal with hazing issues; (3) To learn if there were certain groups of Student Affairs professionals at historically Black institutions of higher education in Tennessee who may have more extreme attitudes toward hazing than others; (4) Examine the hazing-related attitudes of Student Affairs professionals at historically Black institutions of higher education in Tennessee in order to better initiate effective educational activities and increase awareness about hazing. The population for this study consisted of Tennessee State University, Fisk University, LeMoyne-Owen College, and Lane College, four 4-year historically Black institutions of higher education in the state of Tennessee. The study sample consisted of 76 individuals from the previously listed institutions. Included were deans of students, student conduct officers and student activities and Greek Life staff, athletic directors and coaches. Dr. Jay Goodner granted permission to use his 1992 instrument, with minor modifications. The survey instrument consisted of 20 questions concerning participants' attitudes on hazing. There were four research questions and four null hypotheses, used to determine differences as analyzed by institution origin, gender, hazing occurrences, and group membership. Findings of the study were: (a) no statistically significant difference in the mean attitudes of participants on hazing based whether the institution was public or private in origin, (b) no statistically significant difference in the mean attitudes of participants on hazing based on gender, (c) no statistically significant difference in the mean attitudes of participants on hazing based on membership in an organization normally associated with hazing, and (d) no statistically significant difference in the mean attitudes of participants on hazing based on hazing occurrences on their campuses in the last 5 years.
Subject Area
Higher education|Educational administration|Black studies
Recommended Citation
William E. Arnold,
"A comparison of hazing attitudes in Student Affairs professionals at select historically Black institutions of higher education in Tennessee"
(2005).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3167769.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3167769