Socialinė teorija, empirija, politika ir praktika
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Nevyriausybinių neįgaliųjų organizacijų veiklos plėtotė socialinės integracijos kontekste
Get PDFThe paper analyses the development of the activities of non-governmental organisations of the disabled in the context of social integration. Social Integration Act (2013) emphasizes that during the implementation of social integration ideas, it is important to ensure equal rights and opportunities of the disabled in the society, to establish the principles of their social integration, to define social integration system and its prerequisites as well as the authorities implementing the social integration of people with disabilities. The NGO concept of social integration of people with disabilities in Lithuania is described presenting a variety of social integration concepts assumed by scientists, theorists and practitioners. Hereby is presented an empiric investigation, which purpose was to reveal the approach and experience of respondents towards the development of the NGOs activities. The findings of a qualitative research performed by the author of the article revealed that disabled people expected the most social services from the NGOs. The independence of disabled people is pursued by social services. Educational peculiarities are also characteristic to the activities of NGOs. The research findings demonstrated that the disabled, who joined NGOs, expressed their need for training and developing their self-expression. Analysing the experiences of respondents, it became clear that the need for material help was important to disabled people. The research showed that usually NGOs represented a group of disabled people. The more disabled people were represented, the more they integrated to the society itself. Talking about the forms of representation, the participants of the research emphasised that the representatives of authorities transferred to NGOs to solve the problems of disabled people. This demonstrated the trust in NGOs by people, who form a particular social policy, and the people, who implement it, whereas such organisations were more able to solve the problems of disabled people than state institutions. Applying qualitative research methods, the research helped to reveal the difficulties arising from the administration of NGOs and people forming and implementing the social policy representing the interests of disabled people. Difficulties limiting the social integration of disabled people were established: the bureaucracy of the representatives of the state authorities in respect of NGOs, the lack of public awareness of disabled people, too strict requirements of disabled people to the representatives of the authorities, and the transfer of conflicts to disabled people. These difficulties showed the lack of dialogue by all participants. The participants of the research actualised the factors, which were oriented towards the changes of the development of NGOs’ activities, pursuing the social integration of disabled people. The representation of interests oriented towards the activeness of disabled people in the NGOs gaining the influence on the resolutions of authorities, the ability of disabled people to cooperate in NGOs pursuing the high quality representation of their interests, financial support for a person representing and solving personal problems, the representation of interests oriented towards decision-making by the members of NGOs, closer relationships with the representatives of the authorities, efficient organisation of the NGOs’ activities, and NGOs as a measure to overcome the social exclusion of disabled people were listed as the important endeavours of NGOs. Hence, an NGO is a social overcoming tool, which encourages higher involvement into society through the participation of disabled people in the activities of NGOs.Straipsnyje nagrinėjama neįgaliųjų nevyriausybinių organizacijų (NVO) veiklos plėtotė socialinės integracijos kontekste. Aptariama NVO neįgaliųjų socialinė integracija, pateikiant mokslininkų teoretikų ir praktikų įvairias socialinės integracijos sampratas. Pristatomas empirinis tyrimas, kuriuo siekta atskleisti tiriamųjų požiūrį į NVO veiklos plėtotę ir patirtį. Straipsnio autorės atlikto kokybinio tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad neįgaliųjų socioedukaciniai poreikiai NVO tenkinami ir atstovaujama NVO veiklos forma yra grupinė. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad NVO administracija patiria iššūkių, tai valdžios institucijų atstovų biurokratizmas NVO atžvilgiu ir žinojimo apie neįgaliuosius stoką. Atskleidžiami socialinės integracijos veiksniai, lemiantys NVO veiklos plėtotės pokyčius. Remiantis kokybinio tyrimo rezultatais paaiškėjo, kad sėkminga neįgaliųjų socialinė integracija yra interesų atstovavimas, orientuotas į neįgaliųjų aktyvumą, NVO patiems darant įtaką valdžios sprendimams ir pačių neįgaliųjų gebėjimas kooperuotis NVO veikloje
Socialinių darbuotojų pilietinis ir politinis aktyvumas, siekiant socialinio teisingumo
Get PDFThe main objective of social work is social justice. The objective of social justice can be achieved through the micro and macro practices. So, the aim of this paper is to find what the political and civil activity of social workers as well as the understanding of social justice are. A few tasks were delivered for the implementation of this purpose. First, the review of the role of social work at macro practice and of advocators and their understanding of social justice was carried out; second, the political and civil activity of social workers was evaluated; third, the understanding of social justice by social workers was analysed, and finally, the conclusions were drawn.The main philosophical value for social work is social justice, which is the base for the advocacy of the client at macro level and which supports and enhances the individuals’ and society’s functioning. The previous researches show the content and functions of the political activity of social workers, emphasize the dynamic role of social work among civil society and social policy, reveal a liberal political ideology of social workers, analyse how this ideology has impacted the daily practice, disclose the means for the engagement in the political activity, define the skills for the purpose, and change the policy. Despite this, the macro level practice of social work is criticised in the contemporary socio-economic context: the voice of social work is weak; the social justice is undefended; seeking social welfare and dealing with social problems, the social work is focused only on behavioural change and it’s superficial, because it doesn’t involve the human life complexity, as such a function is only management; the social work recedes from social policy and social development. Thus, the profession neglects the “social” in social work, weakening the objective of social justice. The organisations of social work don’t put enough efforts in the disclosure of a demand of social services in communities.The aim of the paper was achieved applying secondary analyses of the European Social Survey 2010–2012 and the European value survey 2008. However, the small sample of Lithuanian social workers in these surveys doesn’t allow to summarise the findings for all social workers in the country. The findings revealed that the political activity of social workers is low. Social workers from all the European countries that participated in the surveys indicated that they are somewhat interested in politics, whereas Lithuanian social workers indicated that they are hardly interested. Social workers are not socially active either. Lithuanian social workers, who participated in the surveys, emphasized individual responsibility during the evalutation of various aspects of social justice more than the European social workers.Socialinis darbas – profesija, kurios vienas iš siekių yra socialinis teisingumas. Socialinio teisingumo siekis profesinėje veikloje gali būti įgyvendinamas tiek mikro-, tiek makropraktikos lygmeniu. Šio straipsnio tikslas – išsiaiškinti, koks yra socialinio darbuotojų pilietinis ir politinis aktyvumas bei socialinio teisingumo samprata. Keliami šie uždaviniai, kurie atitinka ir straipsnio struktūrą, pirma, apžvelgti mokslinius šaltinius socialinio darbo ir gynybos makropraktikoje, socialinio teisingumo tematika, antra, įvertinti socialinių darbuotojų pilietinį ir politinį aktyvumą, trečia, išanalizuoti socialinių darbuotojų socialinio teisingumo sampratą, pabaigoje pateikti išvadas.Socialinis teisingumas socialiniame darbe yra pagrindinė filosofinė vertybė, kuri kelia pareigą socialiniams darbuotojams ginti klientą makrolygmeniu, palaikyti ir skatinti individų ir visuomenės socialinį funkcionavimą. Atlikti tyrimai apibrėžia politinės veiklos turinį ir funkcijas, pažymi socialinio darbo dinaminį vaidmenį siejant socialinę politiką ir pilietinę visuomenę, atskleidžia socialinių darbuotojų politinę ideologiją, kuri iš esmės liberali, ir analizuoja, kaip ji veikia praktiką, įvardija įsitraukimo į politinę veiklą būdus, apibrėžia įgūdžius siūlant ir keičiant politiką. Vis dėlto socialinio darbo makropraktika yra kritikuojama šiuolaikiniame socioekonominiame kontekste: socialinio darbo organizacijų yra per menkai girdimas, neginamas socialinis teisingumas, siekiant socialinės gerovės ir sprendžiant socialines problemas, orientacija tik į elgesio pokytį yra paviršutiniška, nes neapima žmonių gyvenimo kompleksiškumo, tai tampa tik vadybine funkcija, tolstama nuo socialinės politikos ir socialinių pokyčių. Šitaip profesija neigia „socialinį“ socialiniame darbe, silpninant socialinio teisingumo siekį. Socialinio darbo organizacijos per mažai deda pastangų atskleisti paslaugų poreikį bendruomenėse.Turint tikslą išsiaiškinti socialinių darbuotojų politinį ir pilietinį aktyvumą, siekiant socialinio teisingumo, naudojama antrinė Europos socialinės apklausos (ESS) 2010–2012 m.; Europos vertybių tyrimo (EVS) 2008 m. duomenų analizė. Tačiau per maža Lietuvos socialinių darbuotojų imtis minėtose apklausose neleidžia daryti apibendrinimų visai populiacijaii. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad socialinių darbuotojų politinis aktyvumas yra mažas, nes Europos šalių socialiniai darbuotojai šiek tiek domisi politika, o apklausose dalyvavę Lietuvos socialiniai darbuotojai nelabai. Socialiniai darbuotojai nėra ir pilietiškai aktyvūs. Apklausose dalyvavę Lietuvos socialiniai darbuotojai, vertindami įvairius socialinio teisingumo aspektus, labiau linkę pabrėžti individualią atsakomybę nei Europos šalių socialiniai darbuotojai
„Nepaisomi profesionalai“: socialiniai darbuotojai ir jų galia
Get PDFSummaryPhenomenon of social workers as “disregarded professionals” is presented in the article. The phenomenon is empirical category which has been reconstructed during qualitative research. Methodology of grounded theory has been used to reveal causal, contextual and intervening conditions of the phenomenon. Still the focus of the article is on the actualised and non-actualised strategies of coping with phenomenon of “disregarded professionals” and consequences of those strategies for social work practice. The phenomenon is experienced by social workers when they are faced with unjustified, inadequate, ungrounded requirements which don’t correspond with the essence of the professional activity. It has been revealed that the strategies of coping with phenomenon of “disregarded profession” are equally determined by the personality of a social worker and the specific contextual conditions, in which the social worker is working. Organisations which create supportive and encouraging professional development environment are opening possibilities for different quality strategies of coping with the phenomenon to compare with non-supportive, non-encouraging and even disruptive professional development organisations / environments.Vilniaus universitetasSocialinio darbo katedraUniversiteto g. 9/1, LT-01513 VilniusEl. paštas: [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected]
SantraukaStraipsnyje pristatoma kokybinio tyrimo metu rekonstruota socialinių darbuotojų kaip „nepaisomų profesionalų“ empirinė kategorija-fenomenas. Remiantis grindžiamosios teorijos metodologija, atskleidžiamos šio fenomeno priežastinės, kontekstinės ir intervenuojančios sąlygos. Visgi ypatingas dėmesys sutelkiamas į „nepaisomo profesionalumo“ fenomeno įveikos strategijas (realizuojamas ir nerealizuojamas) bei šių strategijų sukeliamus padarinius socialiniam darbui. „Nepaisomas profesionalumas“ yra patiriamas tuomet, kai socialinio darbo specialistams yra keliami nepagrįsti, neadekvatūs, jų profesinės veiklos esmės neatitinkantys reikalavimai. Nustatyta, kad „nepaisomo profesionalumo“ fenomeno įveika yra lemiama profesionalo asmenybės, tačiau lygiai taip pat specifinių kontekstinių sąlygų, kuriomis veikia socialiniai darbuotojai. Veikiant socialinio darbo profesionalumą auginančiose / plėtojančiose organizacijose, atsiveria kitokios kokybės fenomeno įveikos galimybės nei socialinio darbo profesionalumo neauginančiose ar net jį žlugdančiose organizacijose / aplinkose
Didelis priešlaikinis Lietuvos vyrų mirtingumas. Kaita ir priežastys
Get PDFSummaryThe mortality pattern of the post-soviet population shows a notable life expectancy differentiation by sex, marital status, education, place of residence, and other socio-demographic variables. This publication presents results of a study of mortality patterns among working-age men in Lithuania. The study is based on the Cockerham health lifestyle theory. The main purpose of the study is to evaluate men’s mortality fluctuation since the year 1959. The Lithuanian mortality rates were compared with the mortality rates in other European countries. This study is based on data from the Human Mortality Database and the European Mortality Database. The results of the study confirm that for men the probability to die in the working age in Lithuania is more than twice as high as in France. The Lithuanian working-age men’s population has a very high rate of mortality from external causes and alcohol-related deaths. This research is funded by the European Social Fund under the Global Grant measure (project No. VP1-3.1-ŠMM-07-K-02-067).Key words: causes of death, mortality differentials, men’s premature mortalityLietuvos socialinių tyrimų centrasA. Goštauto g. 11, LT-01108 Vilnius, LietuvaTel. (8-5) 275 34 46El. paštas: [email protected]
Posovietinių valstybių gyventojams būdinga mirtingumo pokyčių diferenciacija pagal socialinius demografinius požymius. Straipsnyje, remiantis Wiliamo C. Cockerhamo su sveikata susijusios gyvensenos teorija, nagrinėjama didelio priešlaikinio Lietuvos vyrų mirtingumo problema. Straipsnio tikslas – pristatyti, kaip kito darbingo amžiaus Lietuvos vyrų mirtingumo rodikliai nuo 1959 m. ir kokie buvo tų rodiklių kaitos skirtumai, palyginti su kitomis Europos šalimis. Gyventojų mirtingumo rodiklių statistinė analizė atlikta naudojant Human Mortality Database ir European Mortality Database duomenis. Nustatyta, kad darbingo amžiaus vyrų mirtingumo rodikliai, palyginti su kitomis Vakarų Europos šalimis, Lietuvoje yra ypač dideli. Lietuvos vyrų tikimybė numirti 25–44 metų 2009 m. buvo 2,9 karto didesnė negu Prancūzijos vyrų ir3,4 karto didesnė negu Lietuvos moterų. Vienas iš svarbiausių tokio didelio Lietuvos vyrų mirtingumo veiksnių – ypač didelis mirtingumas dėl išorinių mirties priežasčių. Mokslinis tyrimas finansuojamas Europos socialinio fondo lėšomis pagal visuotinės dotacijos priemonę (sutarties Nr. VP1-3.1-ŠMM-07-K-02-067).Pagrindiniai žodžiai: mirties priežastys, mirtingumo diferenciacija, priešlaikinis vyrų mirtingumasHigh Premature Morality Rates Among Men in Lithuania. Patterns and Causes Daumantas Stumbrys
Summary The mortality pattern of the post-soviet population shows a notable life expectancy differentiation by sex, marital status, education, place of residence, and other socio-demographic variables. This publication presents results of a study of mortality patterns among working-age men in Lithuania. The study is based on the Cockerham health lifestyle theory. The main purpose of the study is to evaluate men’s mortality fluctuation since the year 1959. The Lithuanian mortality rates were compared with the mortality rates in other European countries. This study is based on data from the Human Mortality Database and the European Mortality Database. The results of the study confirm that for men the probability to die in the working age in Lithuania is more than twice as high as in France. The Lithuanian working-age men’s population has a very high rate of mortality from external causes and alcohol-related deaths. This research is funded by the European Social Fund under the Global Grant measure (project No. VP1-3.1-ŠMM-07-K-02-067). Key words: causes of death, mortality differentials, men’s premature mortalit
Muzikos terapijos metodų elementų taikymas socialiniame drabe: specialistų požiūris ir patirtys
Get PDFSummaryThe aim of the article is to present the results of a qualitative research – the specialists’ experience and attitude towards the music therapy practice in social work. Music therapy is making just the first steps in Lithuania, but its services are already integrated into healing, rehabilitation, recreation, care, special education, social work, preventive programmes. During the qualitative research, data analysis has revealed that the music therapy clients are persons of different age and gender, who have physical, psychological and/or social disorders and problems. If a social worker wants to use the elements of music therapy methods, the most important musical form in social work is integration into public through the cultural-artistic practice, while there are also developing clients’ social skills, communication, attention to others, responsibility, advertence, accumulation, the expression of negative and positive emotions.Key words: social work, the elements of music therapy methodsHigienos institutasDidžioji g. 22, LT-01128 VilniusEl. paštas: [email protected]
Nors muzikos terapija Lietuvoje žengia tik pirmuosius žingsnius, jos paslaugos po truputį integruojamos į gydymo, reabilitacijos, rekreacijos, globos, specialiojo ugdymo, socialinio darbo, prevencines programas. Tyrimo tikslas – konceptualizuoti specialistų patirtį ir požiūrį į muzikos terapijos metodų elementų taikymą socialiniame darbe. Analizuojant kokybinio tyrimo duomenis buvo atskleista, kad muzikos terapijos klientai yra įvairaus amžiaus ir lyties asmenys, turintys fizinių, psichologinių ir / ar socialinių sutrikimų bei problemų. Svarbiausia muzikinės veiklos forma socialinio darbuotojo veikloje, norint taikyti muzikos terapijos metodų elementus, yra integracija į visuomenę per kultūrinę – meninę veiklą, kurios metu lavinami įvairūs klientų socialiniai įgūdžiai, mokomasi bendrauti, pasirūpinti kitais ir savimi, taip pat atsakingumo, dėmesingumo, susikaupimo, taisyklių laikymosi, neigiamų ir teigiamų emocijų raiškos.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: socialinis darbas, muzikos terapijos metodų elementaiThe Specialists’ Experience and Attitude Towards the Elements of Music Therapy Methods in Social Work Rita Petrauskaitė-Dusevičienė,Toma Jasiukevičiūtė
Summary The aim of the article is to present the results of a qualitative research – the specialists’ experience and attitude towards the music therapy practice in social work. Music therapy is making just the first steps in Lithuania, but its services are already integrated into healing, rehabilitation, recreation, care, special education, social work, preventive programmes. During the qualitative research, data analysis has revealed that the music therapy clients are persons of different age and gender, who have physical, psychological and/or social disorders and problems. If a social worker wants to use the elements of music therapy methods, the most important musical form in social work is integration into public through the cultural-artistic practice, while there are also developing clients’ social skills, communication, attention to others, responsibility, advertence, accumulation, the expression of negative and positive emotions. Key words: social work, the elements of music therapy method
Socialinio darbo proceso skirtumai religinėse ir pasaulietinėse NVO
No full textUAB “Tango reklama”Laisvės avenue 60, Vilnius, [email protected]
Vilnius UniversityDepartment of Social WorkUniversiteto str. 9/1, Vilnius, [email protected]
SummaryWe analysed social work process in faith-related and secular NGOs. The objective of the study was to reveal the differences of social work process. We define social work process as an algorithm of actions that is proceeded in order to solve social and personal problems. There are five stages of social work process. At each stage the participants of social work organisation perform certain actions. In order to find out the differences of social work process, the actions were compared in faith-related and secular NGOs. The results of data analysis reveal the significant differences of social work process in secular and faith-related social work NGOs.Keywords: Social work process, non-governmental organisations, faith-related and secular organisations.UAB “Tango reklama”Laisvės avenue 60, Vilnius, [email protected] University
Department of Social WorkUniversiteto str. 9/1, Vilnius, [email protected]
Lietuvoje neformalioje aplinkoje yra dažnai diskutuojama apie religinių ir nereliginių socialinį darbą dirbančių organizacijų skirtumus. Tyrimo tikslas ir buvo atskleisti bei įvertinti šiuos skirtumus. Socialinis darbas yra plačiai suprantamas reiškinys ir, siekdami konkrečiau jį užgriebti, tyrėme šio darbo proceso skirtumus. Socialinis darbas kaip procesas susideda iš tam tikrų veiksmų etapų, kurie atliekami tam tikra seka. Šie veiksmai ir buvo tyrimo objektas. Duomenų analizės rezultatai parodė, kad yra reikšmingų skirtumų tarp religinių (krikščioniškų) ir nereliginių organizacijų.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: socialinio darbo procesas, nevyriausybinės organizacijos, religinės ir nereliginės organizacijos.
THE DIFFERENCES OF SOCIAL WORK PROCESS IN FAITH-RELATED AND SECULAR NGOSSUMMARYGiedrė Renevė, Eugenijus Dunajevas
SummaryWe analysed social work process in faith-related and secular NGOs. The objective of the study was to reveal the differences of social work process. We define social work process as an algorithm of actions that is proceeded in order to solve social and personal problems. There are five stages of social work process. At each stage the participants of social work organisation perform certain actions. In order to find out the differences of social work process, the actions were compared in faith-related and secular NGOs. The results of data analysis reveal the significant differences of social work process in secular and faith-related social work NGOs.Keywords: Social work process, non-governmental organisations, faith-related and secular organisations
Lietuvos gyventojų emigracijos priežastys ir padariniai šalies ekonomikai
Get PDFSummaryThe international emigration process, its reasons and consequences for the Lithuanian economy are analyzed in this article. The concepts of migration, emigration, transmigration have been identified in this article. An analysis of the migration extent has also been done. This analysis has revealed that almost 500 thousand people (evaluated as emigrants who have and have not declared their departure) have gone out from Lithuania during the period 2001–2012. The main emigration destination countries are named in the article. These countries are the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Norway, and Spain. The quantitative research of emigrants is presented in the article in order to characterize the most important reasons for emigration as well as to create the hypothetical portrait of Lithuanian emigrants, which helps to identify the main features of Lithuanian emigrants.Key wors: emigration, Lithuanian people, consequences, economyŠiaulių universitetas,Vilniaus g. 88, ŠiauliaiEl. paštas: [email protected]
Straipsnyje teoriniu ir praktiniu aspektu analizuojami Lietuvos gyventojų emigracijos procesai, priežastys ir padariniai Lietuvos ekonomikai. Pateiktos migracijos, emigracijos, reemigracijos, transmigracijos sąvokos. Įvardyti veiksniai, lemiantys sprendimą emigruoti. Atlikta emigracijos masto analizė. Ji atskleidė, kad 2001–2012 m. (įvertinus ir nedeklaruotos emigracijos mastus) iš Lietuvos išvyko beveik 500 tūkst. asmenų. Nurodytos pagrindinės Europos emigracijos tikslo šalys: Jungtinė Karalystė, Airija, Vokietija, Norvegija, Ispanija. Atlikta anketinė apklausa leido įvardyti pagrindinius motyvus, lėmusius sprendimą išvykti iš Lietuvos, sudarytas hipotetinis Lietuvos emigranto portretas, kuris atskleidžia pagrindinius išvykstančio asmens bruožus.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: emigracija, Lietuvos gyventojai, padariniai, ekonomikaReasons for Emigration and Its Consequences for Lithuanian Economy Rasa Rudžinskienė, Lina Paulauskaitė
Summary The international emigration process, its reasons and consequences for the Lithuanian economy are analyzed in this article. The concepts of migration, emigration, transmigration have been identified in this article. An analysis of the migration extent has also been done. This analysis has revealed that almost 500 thousand people (evaluated as emigrants who have and have not declared their departure) have gone out from Lithuania during the period 2001–2012. The main emigration destination countries are named in the article. These countries are the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Norway, and Spain. The quantitative research of emigrants is presented in the article in order to characterize the most important reasons for emigration as well as to create the hypothetical portrait of Lithuanian emigrants, which helps to identify the main features of Lithuanian emigrants. Key wors: emigration, Lithuanian people, consequences, econom
Tyrėjo subjektyvaus patyrimo episteminė reikšmė lauko tyrimuose
Get PDFVilniaus universitetasSocialinio darbo katedraUniversiteto g. 9/1 – 309 kab.LT-01513 VilniusEl. paštas: [email protected]
Straipsnio tikslas – išnagrinėti ir atskleisti tyrėjo subjektyvaus patyrimo episteminę reikšmę ir jo panaudojimo lauko tyrimuose galimybes. Šios temos nagrinėjimas svarbus, nes leidžia kritiškiau įvertinti lauko tyrimus, visapusiškiau traktuoti jų duomenis ir siekti didesnio jų validumo. Rengiant medžiagą straipsniui buvo taikomi mokslinės literatūros, metodinių pavyzdžių ir asmeninės patirties analizės metodai. Prieita prie išvados, kad atliekant tokio pobūdžio tyrimus svarbu fiksuoti ne tik tai, kas vyksta tyrėjo išorėje (t. y. tiriamoje erdvėje), bet ir tai, kas vyksta tyrėjo viduje, ir šiuos vidinius vyksmus traktuoti kaip intensyvių ir daugiamačių tyrėjo ir tiriamųjų sąveikų padarinius.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: lauko tyrimas, etnografinis tyrimas, stebėjimas dalyvaujant, reflektyvumas, tyrėjo savianalizė.The Epistemic Singnificance of Researcher’s Subjective Experience in Fieldwork Donata Petružytė
Summary The key feature of fieldwork is the researcher’s immersion in the culture (i.e. the group or community) being investigated. For this reason, fieldwork requires an exceptionally deep and personal involvement and is, therefore, emotionally costly to the researcher. This article is specifically aimed at drawing readers’ attention to subjective experiences of the fieldworker, which are rarely discussed in the scientific literature. In essence, the objective of this article is to reveal the epistemological significance of a researcher’s subjective experience and to investigate the possibilities of its application to fieldwork. The primary methods of data collection for this article were analysis, synthesis, and interpretation of scientific literature and methodological illustrations. In addition, the author’s personal experience in fieldwork was also analysed (namely, her research about waste-gatherer communities in Lithuanian landfills, which was conducted in cooperation with Mindaugas Survila, the director and cameraman of the 2011 documentary “Field of Magic”). The author believes that the aforementioned topic deserves thorough research because of its potential to aid the critical evaluation of fieldwork, to allow a more versatile data interpretation, and to improve the validity of gathered data. On the one hand, the theoretical aspects of the problem are only briefly examined in this article. On the other hand, the practical strategies of encouraging social and psychological reflectivity are discussed extensively and personal experience is analysed meticulously. Despite the fact that this article deals with fieldwork in particular, some of its findings might be useful for qualitative research in general. It must be acknowledged that the social setting of the field has an inevitable impact on the ethnographer. The summary of the author’s personal reflections, ethnographic research, and methodological literature reveals five types of such impact: physiological, cognitive, social, emotional, and ethical. In each individual case, the combination of levels of influence and their intensity depend on three factors: research characteristics (duration, intensity of data collection, cultural proximity / distance between researchers and participants), the researcher’s personal qualities and experience, and the peculiarities of the social milieu being investigated. It is evident, that only through constant effort of reflection the pitfall of unconscious social conditioning can be avoided. Otherwise it might lie unnoticed and lead to gross misrepresentations of social reality. Naturally, researchers themselves also have a powerful effect on their group of research subjects as their sudden entrance in the field abruptly interrupts the course of habitual activities of these subjects. Research subjects also have particular expectations the researcher and their own attitudes based on individual experience or common sense. Consequently, it is extremely important for the researcher to master the art of identifying and negotiating these expectations and common sense notions in order to properly steer the process of entering the field. The level of mastery determines the type of data accessible to the researcher and how readily available it is. Generally speaking, there are several crucial aspects of the ethnographer’s influence on research subjects. Firstly, there is a number of primary characteristics of identity, determining the researcher’s personality and the conduct of research, which are beyond one’s control. Namely, they are gender, age, and ethnic background, which are associated with specific social norms. Secondly, there are a few factors that the scientist can control. They include his or her outlook, behaviour, and social skills. Despite being less fundamental, the latter are sometimes useful in mitigating the negative effects of the former. Accordingly, controllable and uncontrollable factors interact with the expectations of research subjects to create a particular image of the scientist. A dedicated role is fairly quickly assigned to the researcher, but it may be transformed in the course of the fieldwork. As each given role allows for a specific amount of social power, and the researcher’s power translates into freedom of inquiry, the fieldworker’s scientific endeavour is enhanced by attainment of powerful roles and limited by reception of powerless roles. Although the former statement has become fieldworkers’ common sense, a mere recognition of the fact does not suffice. In order to thoughtfully and efficiently handle the research process, fieldworkers need to delve deeply into the everyday interaction among their social roles, psychological characteristics, subjects’ expectations and dispositions about them and their research. Scientists must also evaluate their level of coping with all the tasks and how it advances or hinders data collection. It is clearly evident that knowledge about social life, as generated during fieldwork, has little to do with the controlled setting of a lab. Its life-like character is marked with intimate, long-term, complicated, and multidimensional relationship between the research parties. Hence, it is important to register not only the flow of events in the field that are external to the researcher, but also his or her inner processes and to treat them as a product of multifaceted interaction between the fieldworker and natives of the field. It is quite apparent that because of a multitude of reciprocal effects between ethnographers and the field, researchers cannot be regarded as infallible and objective means of research. Henceforth, regular efforts by the researcher to analyse this complicated relationship from one’s point of view are mandatory. These efforts might provide a fruitful insight into research development and data interpretation. In conclusion, reflecting should be a vital part of every ethnographer’s research, because it would bring a handful of improvements. Firstly, the proper reflection on processes within the field and the self-analysis might lead to an increased observational acuteness. This would account for richer data and more in-depth information about the research object. Secondly, regular self-analysis would allow the fieldworker to be more involved in the research process and improve his or her ability to make strategic moves. Thirdly, acute reflection could shed more light on the context of data and the procedure of their collection. Furthermore, this would lead to a both more apt attribution of meaning during data interpretation and an improved validity of data. As a bonus, self-analysis may relieve the emotional burden put on the researcher by the difficulties of fieldwork and encourage the fieldworker’s personal development. Finally, deep reflection might also serve the educational purpose for both authors and readers alike, since it enriches research reports with detailed accounts of the fieldwork peculiarities. Key words: field research, ethnographic research, participant observation, reflectivity, researcher’s self-analysi