Under a constructionist view, deviance is defined as ideas, traits, and actions that?

• A. Fall outside socially determined normative boundaries
• B. Are always harmful to society
• C. Are biologically determined
• D. Are universally rejected

Answer: (A)

Under constructionist thinking, deviance isn’t about an inherent flaw or universal label; it’s about whether ideas, traits, and actions violate the norms that a society has established. Those normative boundaries are created and maintained through social processes, and they can vary across cultures, historical periods, and different groups within a society. So deviance is defined as what falls outside those socially determined boundaries. That’s why this view emphasizes changeable, context-dependent definitions of what counts as deviant rather than fixed ideas about harm, biology, or universal rejection. In other words, something is deviant because the surrounding norms say it is, not because it is inherently harmful, biologically determined, or universally dismissed.