When we see persistent social problems like homelessness, crime, or poor health outcomes, our first instinct is often to look for the cause within the individual. We might think in terms of poor choices, a lack of motivation, or personal failings . This view feels intuitive because it preserves the illusion of control: if the person changed, the outcome would change . But while individual factors certainly play a role, this view misses the bigger, and often more powerful, pic
