Shifting From the Person-in-Environment Framework to the Individual-in-Contexts Model
Reimagining Social Work’s Foundational Education and Practice Orientation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18060/28721Keywords:
Social work theory, ecological systems theory, social work education and practice, individual-in-contexts modelAbstract
Social work education and practice have maintained a dual commitment to individual change and societal reforms since the 1900s. This dual emphasis has sparked numerous intra-professional debates about the degrees to which micro- and/or macro-systemic change should be foregrounded. Such discussions also revealed the need for a unifying theoretical orientation for social work education and practice that highlighted the profession’s change and reform foci. Eventually, the Person-in-Environment model became social work’s guiding paradigm. While this model champions the interconnectedness between people and their environments, it narrowly focuses on social environments, often excludes natural and physical environments, and inadvertently raises power and language concerns. To address these concerns, the Individual-in-Contexts Model (ICM) is proposed, and its conceptual framework is detailed. This article concludes with a brief case study to illustrate the ICM’s application to social work practice, as well as a recommendation to empirically validate the model in future research projects.
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