Fieldwork Dilemmas

Research with institutionalized populations: Methodological and ethical dilemmas

“…Although not without challenges, ethnographic observations of orphans' daily experiences in orphanage schools and dormitories offered invaluable information about my participants' educational experiences, aspirations, and decision-making processes about their post-secondary education pursuits. As discussed in (Korzh, 2015), observations in post-authoritarian contexts should be treated with caution about participant performativity. Orphanage teachers instructed students to perform for me by being on their best behavior and actively participating in class discussions, as I sat quietly in the back of the classroom and took hand-written notes.…”

“…At the time of this research, most orphans, biological and social, were placed in orphanages, where orphans lived and studied in a highly regimented environment, what Goffman (1961) calls a "total institution" and defines as "a place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life" (p. 11). The Ukrainian public tends to view orphans through the lens of reductionism, projecting pity for them and setting low expectations for their success in life, and through a genetic deficit ideology that positions orphans as academically incapable, problematic, and socially deviant (Korzh, 2014(Korzh, , 2015.…”

“…Similarly, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations in Ukraine are viewed as aberrant, deviant, pathological, and dangerous (Korzh, 2014(Korzh, , 2015. Research shows (Korzh, 2022) that formerly incarcerated women face degrading attitudes shaped by societal stigma and ostracism resulting in social discrimination when they return to their communities.…”