Hazing generally includes mistreatment of students or other persons (pledges or plebes) in a ritualistic or tradition-based way that must be endured by the prospective members to gain admission to a group, club, or organization. The members doing the hazing often attempt to justify these hazing practices by referring to them as a rite of passage or rationalizing that all current members had to endure it and new prospective members should as well.

Hazing can take many forms, including:

• Requiring victims to act as a personal servant to senior (older) group members

• Forcing victims to binge drink or consume large amounts of alcohol or drugs

• Requiring victims to engage in embarrassing acts, such as wearing a costume or sign around their neck in public

• Depriving victims of sleep, food, or the ability to use the restroom

• Prohibiting victims from associating with family, friends, or other persons

• Swearing or yelling insults at victims.

Most schools have policies against hazing and in many states hazing may be prosecuted as a criminal offense if it results in bodily injury.

In Louisiana (LA), hazing is explicitly prohibited and considered a criminal offense under state law. Louisiana's anti-hazing statute, known as the 'Max Gruver Act,' was strengthened following the hazing-related death of a university student. The law defines hazing as any intentional, knowing, or reckless act by a person acting alone or with others that is directed against a student for the purpose of being initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining membership in any organization, club, or team. The acts may include those described in the topic, such as servitude, forced consumption of food or alcohol, sleep deprivation, and other forms of humiliation or endangerment. Penalties for hazing in Louisiana can range from fines to imprisonment, depending on the severity of the act and whether it resulted in serious bodily injury or death. Educational institutions in Louisiana are also required to adopt anti-hazing policies, provide hazing prevention education, and report hazing incidents. The law encourages reporting by providing immunity from prosecution for individuals who report a hazing incident that they witnessed or were a victim of, under certain conditions.