SOCIAL MARGINALIZATION: CAUSES, TYPES AND CONSEQUENCES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The social marginalization is the situation in an individual or social group when it is not considered part of a society in social and political terms, economic, professional or. This phenomenon can occur because the population follows ideals accepted by society or because the interests of a minority group with power are followed.

The processes of social marginalization are expressed in terms of rejection, indifference, repression or reclusion. Regardless of their degree, a common characteristic is the lack of opportunities and the deprivation and inaccessibility of basic goods and services for social welfare.

Concepts such as maladjustment, deviation or poverty have been used by many social theorists interchangeably to refer to the processes of social exclusion.

This fact, together with the multidimensionality of the concept, means that its definition has been widely debated among social science theorists.

Causes

The triggering elements for processes of social marginalization are multiple; however, they can be grouped into two types:

Personal or endogenous factors

This group refers to those elements that have their own origin in the individual; In other words, it is the result of purely personal circumstances. Within this group are:

- Chronic diseases or physical states that cause a permanent or serious disability. Blind, disabled, deaf people, with Down syndrome, among others, are groups susceptible to social marginalization due to this cause.

- Psychic pathologies. People suffering from mental illnesses such as psychosis, personality disorders or other conditions are often excluded from society.

- Undervalued or socially unacceptable personal characteristics, such as homosexuality, being a woman, being a foreigner, etc.

Environmental or exogenous factors

In this group there are aspects that belong to society itself and that, operating on any person, without the need for them to be immersed in any of the circumstances of the previous group, can generate a situation of social marginalization. These aspects are:

- Relatives. Conflictive family environments or the absence of a home generates the necessary conditions for the individuals who have grown up in this environment to manifest behaviors that may place them in a situation of social marginalization.

- Economic or labor. Lack of financial resources, lack of employment or job insecurity are also sources of marginalization.

- Cultural. Illiteracy, poor training and education, the contrast of values ​​between the countryside and the city, among other factors, can generate situations of maladjustment and, therefore, marginalization, whether temporary or permanent.

- Social. Ethnic, religious, social class prejudices or those associated with socially unacceptable behaviors generate marginalization of entire communities.

- Politicians. In a society, a dominant minority can marginalize those who disagree with a certain social order, such as the exiles or exiles.

Types

Despite the fact that many of the causes of social marginalization are interrelated with each other, attending to these we can establish various types of marginalization:

Alternative marginalization or self-exclusion

It is the only type of social marginalization that is not caused by society, but it is the individual himself who infringes it.

Within this typology are the countercultural groups (hippies, anarchists, revolutionaries, etc.) that do not share the prevailing ideas in their social environment and seek to build a different society without participating in the dominant social system.

Natural marginalization of exclusion or indifference

In this category, marginalization occurs specifically from the productive system. Society does not reject them; it is the productive system that excludes them.

This type of marginalization is suffered by those people who, due to physical reasons (people with disabilities, the elderly, etc.) or mentally, are unable to provide workforce or are unproductive.

Artificial marginalization of exclusion or repression of conduct

This occurs when conducts and events are incompatible with the reference social environment. In this group are homosexuals, single mothers, beggars, prostitutes, among others.

Cultural marginalization

This appears when there is a clash of cultures with ethnic or racial minorities.

Justifying marginalization

It is a type of marginalization regulated by the legal system and refers to behaviors classified as illegal under current law. In this group are criminals, rapists, prostitutes, among others.

Evasive marginalization

It is a type of marginalization that is also self-inflicted but that, unlike self-exclusion, places the individuals who practice it in a clear situation of artificial exclusion, or even justification.

It is the marginalization that occurs when people take refuge in alcohol or drugs to escape the prevailing system.

Consequences

The consequences of the processes of social marginalization are clearly negative for the individuals who suffer them. However, we can differentiate between objective repercussions and subjective repercussions.

Objectives

Structural consequences

Lack of or difficult access to the use and enjoyment of goods that allow satisfactory living standards in accordance with human dignity. This difference in the accumulation of goods between included and excluded generates social distancing.

Abandoned and defenseless situation

The situation of disadvantage to access social resources brings with it a deterioration in the quality of life, causing adverse effects on health.

In extreme situations, this situation places people in subhuman conditions, generating a chronification of marginalization.

It is a dead end where any attempt at reinsertion is unsuccessful. The deterioration is irreversible and the marginalized fall into situations of abandonment and defenselessness.

Lack of participation

Marginalized individuals and groups are absent from the construction of the economic, social and cultural life of society.

Mobility

Many socially marginalized tend to migrate trying to resolve their social and economic situation. These movements generate feelings of uprooting.

Subjective

Disorders in social relationships

As a result of distancing and segregation, contact between excluded groups and the rest of society is lost.

This situation transforms the patterns of both verbal and body language among the excluded. The result of this situation is that the new generations inherit these communication patterns, making it difficult for them to reintegrate into global society.

Social disabling

Social disability is produced by the isolation and lack of communication in which marginalized people find themselves immersed.

Psychological imbalance

All of the above ends up influencing the psychological health and self-esteem of those affected.

References

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