Structural Gravity of Lived Experience: Introducing "Social Work Integrated Phenomenological Analysis" (SW-IPA) as a Methodological Innovation for Researching Marginalized Transitions

Abstract

This paper addresses the institutional precarity and policy cliffs experienced by marginalized populations, specifically Thailand’s "ART Generation" during welfare transitions driven by "deinstitutionalization" within a rigid bureaucratic polity. To overcome traditional Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis's (IPA) tendency to obscure macro-structural oppression, this study constructs "Social Work Integrated Phenomenological Analysis" (SW-IPA), a triadic hermeneutic framework linking micro-level embodied suffering to macro-level institutional critique. Methodologically, the analytical utility of this model is validated through a high-fidelity "Heuristic Hypothetical Vignette" built from existing welfare statutes, medical literature, and local anthropological research. The step-by-step coding simulation demonstrates SW-IPA's capacity to penetrate cultural stigma, decode institutional indifference, and reveal automated algorithmic exclusions within commodified labour markets shaped by digital biopolitics. This study offers a rigorous, structurally reflexive methodological protocol for critical qualitative research among vulnerable populations under transition, providing crucial insights for optimizing transitional welfare policies.