Marginality

Types of Marginality

Initially, sociologists studied marginality as a cultural construct. These scholars claimed that individuals were marginal when they straddled two or more cultures. This can be seen in mixed-race individuals who often self-report being excluded from all racial groups. Another level of marginality is social or community marginalization. This occurs when individuals are left out of relevant social activities by a group or community. Examples include children excluding one of their classmates from play or refusal to eat or make physical contact with patients with HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome). A related construct is political marginalization, where excluded individuals are [Page 413]prevented from engaging in ordinary community activities through rules or regulations. This occurred extensively in America through the now defunct Jim Crow laws designed to prevent blacks and other minorities from voting, as well as past school policies that prevented children with disabilities from receiving a free and appropriate public education. A final conceptualization of marginality is the idea of psychological marginality. This concept refers to the distinctiveness that an individual may possess or appear to possess such as high intelligence or obesity. In this case, there are several means by which an individual may become marginalized. Some of these are situational; that is, a person may be marginalized only in certain social settings. For example, a female legislator may be marginalized in some legislative bodies that are predominantly male. While she may be a member of mainstream society outside her role as a legislator, she may be a marginalized member in the legislature.

The ways and means for a person to be marginalized from mainstream society are numerous and may be roughly categorized as follows: