Any behaviour or physical appearance that departs from norms (established standards of behaviour) of the group,

          violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society, i.e. violation of social norms

	All behaviours whether considered deviant or not are based on a social construction of what is deviant or conforming
	It is socially constructed through social interaction, i.e. learned, not inherent or ascribed or born with it,

              therefore not objective

	No thought or action is inherently deviant, it becomes deviant only in relation to particular norms
	Depends on which group is being considered, e.g. which subculture
	Depends on time, e.g. now or in the past
	Depends on place, location, geography, e.g. region in the world, rural or urban
	Depends on values, beliefs and culture of society
	Depends on gender, social class, racial and ethnic background
	Not always negative or criminal

	Informal:  morals or norms or folkways or mores,  e.g. ridicule, ostracize, frown, praise;
	Formal:  rules and regulations of a society, laws, e.g. policies of company, grades;
	Negative:  punishment, e.g. fail, get grounded, in jail;
	Positive:  reward, e.g. pass, receive award or gift, compliment.

Types of sanctions

	Informal negative
	Informal positive
	Formal negative
	Formal positive