Edges of Society

Society and the social interaction of people, characterizes sociology.Sociology also regards the movement of people outside the general society, such as monks. For the sake of simplicity their removal from the general population, as in the case of monastic monks will not be discussed because of the special society that they and other similar groups form. Such as society has a limited access to the general population and their interaction is largely internal because of the degree of separation it has from those not sharing the same goals.

 Social outcasts, gypsies, people living in isolation and those who move between social geographical and political boundaries are also influenced by the social boundaries that they live in and may interact with the general population living within political and national borders.  

Some people have chosen to live outside the bounds that civilized societies have created, others have been born into families which have already been excluded from the material benefits that tax paying societies provide. Those benefits  are ones whichmost living in urban settings benefit from. They may create shanty towns as has happened in South Africa or they may be living in cardboard boxes outside a railway station in a European capitol or in other setting where they are more exposed to the elements that the average citizen is protected from.

Understanding how people live on the edges of society such as the homeless, the emarginated and refugees helps to understand their mobility or movement wuthin urban, rural or country settings. The host society has recently had to pay more attention to the movement of these people in order to provide necessities that they can use in order to sustain them. One may thing of those who have recently migrated to Europe and need to find shelters, food and clothing in order to survive the colder temperatures. The forced migration of tribal peoples has allowed sociological experts to understand how delicate society can be especially in countries which have been influenced externally.

People who have had poor encounters with the law and those who are dependent on hard drugs are also often emarginated because their philosophy of living is generally unpopular with the masses. They will still interact within the society they live so as to make ends meet and even to advance up a social ladder.