Ubóstwo jako problem społeczny kwestie terminologiczne i ustalenia empiryczne

The article offers an attempt to analyse poverty in terms of a narrowly defined social problem - a phenomenon which is dysfunctional for the social system (e.g. because of its scope, the danger of permanence, and negative implications). This problem can become a subject of interest for sociologists, other professionals who are engaged in attempts to assuage poverty, and members of communities where it occurs. The article moves from theoretical considerations to an analysis of poverty in today’s Poland. Based on results of a research conducted among social care recipients in the Lubuskie Province, the article poses a question: whose problem is poverty? Is it the problem of the poor themselves or of the professionals that try to fight it? In an attempt to answer the question, it offers a typology of social care recipients, based on an analysis of their activities and on their own attempts to interpret their situation