The Origins Of Micro And Macro Social Work Practice

The National Association of Social Workers states “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty” (NASW, 2017, p. 1). Social work has always been around due to the constant reality of poverty but was not an actual job title until Jane Addams a Quaker woman in 1889 opened up her organization the Hull House. She began drawing attention to the needs of people in America by getting involved with politics with the goal of introducing laws that would help people in need. Before Jane Addams brought attention to the issues, churches were doing their best

Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the point where people interact with their environment. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work’. Social work origins arise from the effects of a change to an industrial sociality and increasing impact and focus upon poverty. However it is argued that current social work practice, as illustrated by the broad definition of social work by the IFSW, finds itself expected to address wider social issues such as racism, sexism, and discrimination relating to physical or mental ability. Furthermore social work itself has changed from its origins of a charity style response to social problems of poverty. Banks (1995, p1) argues that the changes to social work have introduced different roles for different purposes of ’redistribution of resources to those in need... social control and rehabilitation of the deviant’ Banks further argues that as social work changes, the emphasis is less upon a helping relationship and more on the distribution of resources and on social control.

During the 1960s, social work was still in progress in America. Many employees of social work were sent to graduate school of social work to get a master’s degree. This meant that social work was developing and it was being recognised as a real profession and that gave social workers a chance and opportunity to shows their skills. 1960s was a decade of Civil rights for African Americans as Martin Luther King Jr accompanied by Rosa Parks fought for the ‘institutionalised and ingrained prejudice and won the 1965 civil rights act’ (Dulmus & Sowers, p.27). These famous

“Macro practice is the term used in the USA for an aspect of social work that focuses on building new organizations and influencing existing social institutions for the benefit of people who are excluded from, or neglected by, powerful interests in society” (Payne, 2014, p.217). Social worker in the macro practice level advocate for policy changes, by arguing for changes in community services. Social worker practicing within the macro level are servicing clients from many different cultures. A social worker must be culturally competent and willing to refrain from personal bias. The United States population is growing at an exceptional rate and is becoming one big melting point. It is projected that the Hispanic/Latino population is the fastest

When working in a field of expertise the experts in that area need to know what defines that field. Social work, with its roots over a hundred years old, started out simply offering assistance to others, has grown and changed, and is currently reconnecting with its roots (Bisman, 2004). Bisman (2004) emphasizes the importance of being an advocate of justice and keeping the field focused on the “social” part of social work. This push to keep social work focused on the needs of others defines social work today. Social work focuses on providing aide to the needy and increasing awareness of those that are oppressed.

Gray, M., & Fook, J. (2004). The quest for a universal social work: Some issues and implications. Social Work Education, 23(5), 625-644.

According to the National Association of Social Work, “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.”

The profession of social work has been in the health care field ultimately since the beginning of the health care system. However, throughout the years, the roles of the social worker and their prevalence have changed just as much as the system itself.

It is likely that some professional practitioners will focus their attention primarily in one area than the other, however all social worker experience situations in which macro-level interventions are usually the right action to respond to certain need or problem. Perhaps, macro practice can be define as professional guided interventions which is designed to bring about change in organization, community and or policy areas. Macro practice is meant to prepare social worker for full time agency administration, program planning, community organizing, or policy analysis position. In the event of taking full time macro roles, the worker will need a more advanced skill than what was stated above. It is imperative that all student of social work will be confronted with different roles after graduation, they will still be involved in macro activities, some students are currently working as a social worker with whom work directly with clients and some are coordinators, planners, managers, administrators, organizers and policy analyst in various capacities. This brought about differences between students expectations of social service work practice and the actual experiences ones they are working in the field. As an

The implications for social work from this evaluation of this program is that it is a way to help social workers empower the clients to take care of themselves. Social workers are largely concerned with empowering people to be the one in control of their own development (Sogren, Jones, Nathaniel, & Cameron-Padmore, 2012). Because this program is built on education and knowledge it is empowering in and of itself, but when workers are able to build upon the knowledge with therapy they empower the client even more than the class alone (Sogren, M., Jones, A., Nathaniel, K., & Cameron-Padmore, J.

Social Work is an occupation that once was assumed in a negative view to the uneducated and misinformed, as being “baby snatchers,” yet over time; the role has established its status, displaying significance, and competence, by advocating for individuals, children, families, and groups. It is clear that this profession is highly qualified when addressing the needs of adults and children, and social problems that arise, by offering qualities that generate from a magnitude of Social Work values, principles, and standards.

Social workers create change across various levels and approaches. The levels include micro, working with individual issues; mezzo, working with families, groups, organizations, etc.; and macro, intervening and advocating with communities or government. Many Social Workers will interact at all three levels in their careers. This essay, however, will focus on the importance of macro social work. Social Workers that work at the macro level are involved in a variety of tasks and organizations that perhaps would not typically be recognized as "social work" that involves working with individuals and families.

The authors communicated the differences between “clinical” social work and “community” social work practice as if micro and macro social work are two different bodies working separately, and not two arms working together. They expressed practical differences such as micro social workers tending to be female, and macro social workers tending to be male (Austin, Coombs & Barr, pg. 16), which leads to a gender wage gap among social workers and structural tension. The segregation between macro and micro approaches in clinical social work practice appear to be a characteristic of individualistic and collective ways of thinking. In European American society, the philosophy of personal development is more about changing individuals and individual

Social work laws and provisions, have set how social workers practice today. The foundation of social work has so many contributors, but one of the first laws to contribute to the welfare of individuals was The Poor Law Act 1601. Under the provisions of this act, it enabled parishes to offer two forms of relief. This then enabled people to receive; if deemed eligible under the criteria 's: indoor relief and outdoor relief. The act was later amended in 1834.

Social Work’s core philosophy and values are centered around social justice and social well-being. Oppression, injustice, discrimination, and violence are antithetical to the social work profession. Social Work believes in strength-based approaches and the person-in-environment perspective to cater the needs and welfare of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society at large. Generally, the target populations for social work are vulnerable, marginalized, and oppressed people; however, social workers provide services to people with a wide range of problems, such as poverty, addiction, mental illness, etc. to empower them to meet their own needs. Historically, the social work profession started its operation by providing neighborhood