The Italian Social Work has covered a route of evolution on how to relate with the ones who benefit from the help interventions and the local context where they express their uneasiness. In reference to the relation engaged between people and social services, it is brought to light that, during the last fifty years, as a result of the social policy changes, also the paradigms of attribution towards the citizen, at first "client", then "user ", finally "customer" have changed. In parallel, it is here highlighted how the way of perceiving the local context has changed too, as, from time to time, the concepts of community, territory and zone were used.
The proposed argument points out these different perspectives, and suggests new interpretative possibilities for the social work.