The Psychological Impact of University Ragging

 

Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D. PhD. 

Ragging is an initiation ritual practiced in Sri Lankan universities (Wickramasinghe et al., 2022). The University Grants Commission (UGC) defines ragging as ‘any deliberate act by an individual student or group of students that causes physical or psychological stress or trauma and results in humiliating, harassing, and intimidating the other person. By way of explanation, "ragging" can be defined as any activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them, regardless of a person's willingness to participate. Ragging is allied with victimization, mostly humiliating and degrading a freshman.

Ragging creates a violent and toxic learning environment, and it has a number of psychological repercussions. Ragging usually includes verbal, physical, and sexual harassment. A UNICEF-based study indicates that over 51% of the students surveyed had been subjected to verbal harassment, 34.3% to psychological violence, 23.8% to physical abuse, and 16.6% to sexual harassment as a result of ragging (Prevalence of Ragging and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Sri Lankan State Universities—UN Study 2022). According to the Ministry of Higher Education, 20 freshmen have died and 27,000 have left universities due to intolerable ragging.

Ragging is a well-organized and well-orchestrated vicious act of violence. It’s important to understand how students fall into this chain of settings during their academic years.

Basic human nature is doing things to get pleasure or avoid pain. People can be gentle until their wellness is affected, and they can become selfish and possibly cruel. It's a common belief that every person has a primal monster inside their mind, and it can activate when a sinister moment arises. Professor Philip Zimbardo (Stanford University) emphasized that people do evil things when they have an ideology or system of ideals.

Ragging behaviors can be explained via evolutionary psychology, social conformity, cognitive dissonance, and group dynamic theories. Evolutionary psychology explains that human aggression is an innate biological drive. Social theories on ragging indicate power dynamics.

There are a few common potential reasons why students engage in ragging. Some feel insecure or powerless, and they have a desire to establish seniority and reinforce social hierarchies. Furthermore, unresolved mental conflicts, free-floating anger, frustration, and irritability can contribute to acting mean toward others. Some of the motivating factors are to gain self-esteem, to live up to a grandiose self-image, and to exercise power over others.

Sometimes insecure feelings fuel this condition. There are other factors, such as group belonging, team building, or increased cohesion, that can magnetize the ragging activities. Ragging or hazing behavior can foster a stronger sense of unity among students. Some individuals who are impacted by a sense of alienation, self-doubt, lack of confidence, and low self-worth engage in such behaviors in order to gain respect and acceptance within the group. Some people derive satisfaction from exerting power and control over others. Those students who oppose ragging also face harmful repercussions such as various harassments and being ostracized by the leading group.

Basically, there are certain personalities who are inclined towards perpetrating violent acts like ragging. There are common psychological features associated with raggers.

Those who engage in ragging often suffer from low self-esteem (low self-esteem arises due to caste oppression, poverty, lack of social opportunities, body dysmorphic conditions, etc.). In Sri Lanka, wealth inequality has created class envy, and students from rural areas sometimes carry deep, hostile resentment towards other freshmen who come from the privileged schools. This has become one of the push factors to commit acts of raging in the universities.

There is a connection between interpersonal violence perpetration and personality disorders. Personality disorders such as antisocial personality/borderline personality can contribute to the perpetration of both direct and indirect forms of aggression towards others. Those who suffered childhood trauma, maternal or paternal deprivation, or childhood abuse can become perpetrators of violence. The other factors include self-loathing and misanthropy, social isolation, extremism and polarized thinking, sadism (enjoyment of hurting others), and those who are easily affected by group dynamics and group aggression can easily become confederates. Herd mentality, aka mob mentality or crowd mentality, also plays a role in ragging events. On such occasions individuals adopt the beliefs, behaviors, or attitudes of the majority in a group.

Ragging is a complex process of exerting power and dominance, expecting the victim's full consent, and humiliating the victim. This is mainly done to satisfy the abuser's inferiority complex and to restore his shattered ego. In addition, the abuser primarily derives unconscious and often conscious sexual gratification from dehumanizing the victim. Dehumanization of the victim facilitates violence and inhumane treatment, and it justifies ragging behaviors, lowering compassion and empathy.

After enduring ragging, the victim may experience anger, frustration, confusion, fear, a damaged sense of self-esteem, a submissive mentality, resentment towards the abuser, and even submission. Sometimes victims become attached to the tormentor and even interpret the ragging process as a pleasant experience. This phenomenon is known as Stockholm syndrome. Stockholm syndrome (also known as "terror bonding" and "traumatic bonding") is a psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her oppressor.

Ragging is not a healthy behavior. Torture causes physical and mental illnesses. It can cause mental disorders such as depression, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and adjustment disorder. The side effects also last for a long time. In addition, vulnerable individuals have been observed to be prone to psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia and acute transient psychotic disorders.

Ragging is a criminal offense under Sri Lankan law, and a person convicted of bullying can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. However, it is difficult to put an end to ragging through law alone. For this, an attitudinal change must be created among students as well as university authorities. Some consider university ragging to be orchestrated by ultra-leftist political groups in Sri Lanka. Therefore, political awareness programs would be needed for an attitudinal change. Some of the university authorities often try to hide or whitewash ragging incidents. Some of them believe ragging is a university subculture, and this factor remains a difficulty to mitigate ragging incidents in universities.

There are potential physical and psychological harms associated with ragging. It threatens the health and safety of its victims. Many hazing events lead to injuries or even fatalities. Therefore, society must understand that ragging is a social menace, a pathology. The university authorities have a responsibility to create a safe and respected learning environment for the students.