Not every victim of poverty is, however, bound to suffer marginalization or social exclusion. In the same way, whilst victims of poverty and social exclusion may take to crime and violence, it is not by any means all such victims who are involved in such extreme action. What is true, however, is that poverty, and social exclusion may give rise to legal measures, educational schemes and programmes to check these phenomena which are costly to society; there is also a need to highlight the cost of acts of violence to victims, perpetrators and their respective families.
Children cannot be held responsible for the acts of their parents; they should also not suffer as a result of those acts. In the same way, all victims of social exclusion cannot be classified as "poor". Some forms of social exclusion derive mainly from causes which are of a physical, psychological, social, ethnic, cultural, religious, political, etc. nature and other forms of social exclusion are linked to handicaps; such situations are not necessarily accompanied by financial deprivation (though this is frequently the case). Whilst it has been possible mathematically to establish the threshold for poverty, it is more difficult to establish the dividing line between "first degree poverty" and social exclusion. Only the most extreme form of social exclusion, namely homelessness, can be readily identified. It is, however, clear that if adequate or timely action is not taken to combat poverty, there is a risk that it may lead - sooner or later - to marginalization and social exclusion. The victims of marginalization and social exclusion are not properly covered by statistics. Most of the persons concerned do not enjoy conventional living conditions. A large proportion of them live in: hostels, social readjustment centres, temporary shelters, bed and breakfast accommodation, shanty towns, caravans, or, have no fixed address, sleeping in the open. The final stage in the process of social exclusion is moral collapse which may lead people to suicide, which represents the final cry for help which goes unanswered. Suicide is one of the major causes of death and it is on the increase, particularly amongst young people, the very lonely and the elderly.
Analysis of diverse cases -- including those of South Africa, Pakistan, and the Philippines -- shows that environmental scarcities expand marginal groups that need help from government by constraining rural economic development and by encouraging people to move into cities where they demand food, shelter, transport, energy, and jobs. In response, governments come under pressure to introduce subsidies of urban services which drain revenues and distort local markets.