- I have experience in conducting research and working with people experiencing homelessness. For many years, it was ethnographic and participatory research on the streets of Lodz. I accompanied, among others, men experiencing homelessness outside the institutional support system and those who independently founded an association and ran a hostel. I have carried out projects such as Skrzynka "Domni - Bezdomni" [the "With a Home - Homeless" box] or "Lodz (for) the Homeless" – says dr M. Kostrzyńska.
And she adds:
- The subject of the planned research is to reconstruct the process of getting out of homelessness as well as the barriers and forces in overcoming them. I would like to develop practical guidelines for working with people in a homelessness crisis.
The planned research assumes gaining new knowledge about the "old" phenomenon of homelessness. It will make it possible to skilfully adjust the help activities to the appropriate "type" of a person and the stage of getting out of homelessness at which they are, and to recognize a specific "readiness" for a change.
The researcher will accompany the participants in their activities, hence the natural technique is observation and the actionresearch approach.
The original idea is to focus not only on getting to know, but also on acting, as a result of developing specific premises for the practice of working with people without a home. The results of the research may be valuable for researchers, academics, students dealing with homelessness, but also practitioners who work with the homeless on a daily basis, whose reflexivity and professional action need the support of current research.
Dr M. Kostrzyńska assumes that the results will allow measurable support for non-governmental organisations she has been cooperating with for years (conducting trainings, projects, managing the Skrzynka Domni - bezdomni project over the years 2015-2017, co-creating the Lodz Partnership in the situation of Exclusion and Homelessness, over the years 2014 - 2020), enabling exchange of experiences. Past cooperation with the city authorities (projects, consultations) enables presentation of the results and their application to systemic activities supporting people without a home.
Currently, the researcher is in the process of establishing the Homelessness Resolution Council as an advisory body to the President of the City of Lodz. The Council will be composed of representatives of non-governmental organisations, City Hall units, business and people in a homeless crisis. The aim of the Council will be to develop and implement systemic changes to support people in the homelessness crisis in Lodz.
dr Małgorzata Kostrzyńska – a social educator, doctor of Humanities in the field of pedagogy; assistant professor at the Department of Social Pedagogy and Rehabilitation at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Lodz and a member of the Centre of Social Innovations of the University of Lodz. Her research interests focus on homelessness, street work, social inclusion and exclusion, stigmatisation and the social welfare system. She combines research with actions to change the life situation of people experiencing homelessness.
Source: dr Małgorzata Kostrzyńska, Department of Social Pedagogy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Lodz
Edit: Promotion Centre, UL
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