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 New York, hazing is a criminal offense under the New York Penal Law. The state differentiates between hazing in the first degree and hazing in the second degree. Hazing in the first degree (Section 120.16) occurs when, in the course of another person's initiation into or affiliation with any organization, someone intentionally or recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of physical injury to such other person or a third person and thereby causes such injury. This is a class A misdemeanor. Hazing in the second degree (Section 120.17) is when the conduct creates a substantial risk of physical injury and does not actually result in injury; this is a class B misdemeanor. New York's laws aim to prevent the types of behaviors often associated with hazing rituals, such as forced consumption of alcohol or drugs, sleep deprivation, and other forms of physical or psychological abuse. Educational institutions in New York also have their own policies and disciplinary procedures to address hazing, which can include sanctions independent of the criminal justice system.