Marginalized groups in Russia: social characteristics

Deformation of social structure is an acute problem of the modern society. In the conditions of aggravation of socio-economic situation in the country, the wealth disparity of the population and the quantitative expansion of marginalized groups associated with this process are becoming the key issues in the context of keeping social stability and considering development prospects. The purpose of the research is to identify the main social characteristics of the homeless people, for which the authors used such techniques as: mass survey (n = 105) and expert survey (n = 6) conducted in July and August of 2015 in Penza.