Which concept describes being pushed to the edges of society through poverty, exclusion, or disadvantage?

• A. Race-of-victim effect
• B. State-corporate crime
• C. Social marginality
• D. Civil disobedience

Answer: (C)

Social marginality describes the condition of individuals or groups pushed to the edges of society by poverty, exclusion, and disadvantage. It captures how limited access to jobs, housing, education, healthcare, and social networks places people outside the mainstream of social participation. Structural factors like economic hardship, discrimination, and barriers in policy and institutions create and sustain these margins, leading to stigma and fewer opportunities. This concept also helps explain why some groups experience higher vulnerability in crime and social life—not because of inherent traits, but because limited legitimate avenues can push individuals toward marginal spaces and strained social controls. For example, marginalized urban residents facing persistent poverty and eviction threats, or marginalized immigrant communities facing barriers to work and integration. The other terms refer to different ideas—perceptions influenced by race of victims, crimes by state or corporations, and protest through nonviolent lawbreaking—so they don’t capture the sense of being pushed to society’s edges through poverty and exclusion.