Insider perspectives and ethical dilemmas: an ethnographic study of polish homelessness in the East Midlands

Purpose The study contributes to debates on reflexivity by emphasising the importance of self-awareness and critical engagement in insider research. It highlights the need for researchers to reflect on their positionality, biases, and power dynamics, offering practical recommendations such as transparent communication, ongoing self-reflection, and peer debriefing. By integrating the researcher’s presence into the analytical process, the study demonstrates how insider status can enhance rather than hinder research depth. These insights provide valuable guidance for future studies on marginalised communities, promoting ethical practices and fostering meaningful, impactful findings. Design/methodology/approach This paper explores the long-term effects of conducting research within one’s own community, focussing on the complexities of positionality, reflexivity, and power dynamics in native ethnography. Drawing on fieldwork experiences with homeless Polish migrants in two UK-based homeless support organisations, this paper examines how researchers’ insider status influences both the research process and its personal and professional consequences. Qualitative and ethnographic methods were employed to highlight the recurring power imbalances between service providers and homeless individuals, with specific attention to inequalities in accessing resources. Findings Findings indicate that researchers’ dual role as insiders and observers creates ethical and emotional tensions, shaping how participants and institutions respond to their presence. In this context, the challenge of balancing personal identity with professional objectivity underscores the deeply emotional and ethical stakes of reflexivity. Far from being a passive or detached exercise, reflexivity emerges as an active and continuous negotiation of power, emotions, and ethics—one that profoundly shapes the researcher’s insights and the broader significance of their work. Research limitations/implications While the study provided significant insights, it was not without limitations. One key limitation was the relatively small sample size, which may not be fully representative of the broader migrant homeless population. The research focused primarily on homeless Polish migrants in the UK, and thus, the findings may not be generalisable to other migrant communities or geographical locations. Additionally, the insider perspective, while valuable, may have introduced biases that influenced the interpretation of the data as this study reflects only my experiences as a researcher, which introduces the possibility that personal biases may have influenced both the findings and their interpretation. Practical implications This study underscores the need for researchers working within their own communities to actively engage in reflexivity, ethical self-awareness, and transparent communication. It highlights the importance of mitigating power imbalances between researchers, participants, and institutions through strategies such as peer debriefing, ongoing self-reflection, and critical engagement with positionality. By integrating reflexivity into the research process, insider researchers can enhance the depth and ethical integrity of their work. These insights offer valuable guidance for future studies on marginalised communities, encouraging more ethical, informed, and impactful research practices that prioritise participant agency and equitable knowledge production. Social implications This study highlights the broader social impact of research on marginalised communities, particularly homeless Polish migrants in the UK By exposing power imbalances within support services, it advocates for more inclusive and equitable approaches to homelessness intervention. The findings emphasise the need for service providers to recognise and address structural inequalities that limit access to resources. Additionally, the study challenges traditional notions of researcher neutrality, promoting a more engaged and ethical approach to knowledge production. Ultimately, it calls for policies and practices that prioritise dignity, agency, and meaningful participation for homeless individuals in shaping their own support systems. Originality/value This study offers a unique contribution by critically examining the long-term personal, ethical, and professional challenges of conducting research within one’s own community. By focussing on homeless Polish migrants in the UK, it provides new insights into power dynamics between researchers, participants, and institutions. The paper moves beyond traditional discussions of reflexivity, presenting it as an ongoing negotiation rather than a static concept. By demonstrating how insider status can enhance research depth rather than hinder objectivity, this study adds valuable perspectives to debates on positionality, ethical research practices, and the role of researchers in studying marginalised communities.