The Ecological Perspective 35 is clear. These factors include intrapersonal and interpersonal variables, as well as environmental ones. A more recent addition to the practice and research liter- ature in social work is the notion of adversarial growth, which refers to the ways in which individuals benefit from adversity, as well as bounce back from it. 10. Trauma and the Life Course Throughout the textbook, we describe the application the trauma-informed (TI) formulation to social work practice. We introduce this framework in this chapter and in subsequent chapters elaborate upon the implications of its five guiding principles—trust, safety, collaboration, choice, and empowerment—to clinical relationships and creating an organizational environment that supports this. Students are likely to be placed in settings that serve a disproportion- ate number of survivors of trauma, particularly in the form of interpersonal victimization in childhood. Yet their practice focus is likely to be on the current challenges that their clients face, not the underlying trauma. We distinguish these types of agencies as stressor-focused, as opposed to those that are trauma-focused (like rape crisis and disaster relief programs). Both settings require a TI lens, but it is more chal- lenging to adopt this orientation in agencies that focus exclusively on clients’ present-day life stressors. Case examples illustrate varied practice contexts in which students will encounter trauma survivors. In subsequent chapters, we explore how students can respond to survivors of trauma using a TI lens in ways that are consistent with their agency-defined roles and responsibilities. 11. Deep Ecology and Ecofeminism When applied to social work, the concept of deep ecology highlights the interconnectedness of individuals, families, groups, and communities and their social and physical environments. We introduce students to the impact that human activity has on the environment, noting how environmental problems like climate change disproportionately affect disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Because environmental degradation is increasing at an alarming rate, we also note the profession’s need to promote social sustainability, expanding the principles of social justice to include the environment. Ecofeminism reinforces the need for the profession to advocate for environmental justice by focusing on the ways in which patriarchy and its focus on the accumulation of wealth at the expense of others have contributed to environmental destruction and the heightened effects that this has on the poor and disadvantaged.