The Role Of Macro Social Work

Needs assessments are essential to both micro and macro social work practice, and the ability to understand this process will enhance our effectiveness as social workers in many areas. A needs assessment allows an individual or group to gain an understanding of the specific needs of consumers and the communities in which they reside. These assessments identify opportunities for further research, improvements for current services, as well as strengths that are already present. This process will also allow us to gain a practical understanding of the work involved when completing a needs assessment. Furthermore, this project will present opportunities for exploring an area of social work in which we all have no experience. This knowledge

“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

The “Grand Challenges for Social Work” are important because they promote: the well-being of people and families, a strong social fabric, and a just society that fights exclusion and marginalization, creating a sense of belonging, promoting trust, and offers pathways for social and economic progress (“American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare”, 2017). The 12 Grand Challenges help continue the transformation of society through social work. As a social worker, you are put able to make changes in the lives of those who need help, and the presented issue needs help. As stated in the Preamble of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers, “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being

This piece of writing is going to demonstrate an understanding of diversity, difference and also discuss the implications for social work practice. It will include an understanding of theories and concepts in relation to diversity where it will address the needs of diverse communities, individuals and groups, exploring differences in relation to culture, ethnicity, gender, age, sexuality, social class and economic wellbeing. It will also demonstrate an understanding of principle of working in an anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory way.

History serves to educate us about our past and guide the future. As social workers it is important to understand the history of our profession in order to appreciate how the current practices came into being and in turn how our history affects our current practice. To adequately serve the various populations, we must understand the historical oppression and discrimination they faced so we can provide culturally competent service delivery. This essay will compare and contrast the origins of micro and macro social work practice and how they are reflected in modern practice.

The class SW 6030 Human Development and the Social Environment has brought new insights and makes me see some topics in a different perspective. The critical reflection paper number one will integrate different concepts that I learned so far in this class.

Furthermore, a micro social worker can integrate macro practice through speaking up and having a voice. Doing this can be demonstrated through letter or email writing (Zastrow, 2013). Writing letters and emails to representatives, community members, and government officials about issues or lack of resources within an organization can affect the community on a macro level (Zastrow, 2013). An

My role while working with Sam is to be a teacher and an enabler. As a teacher I will be educating Sam about the benefits of joining AA and how it will help to better his life situations and to reach his goals. (Velten, 1996). I also will help Sam enroll himself in AA, which will help him to heal on not only a physical level, but also on an emotional level. It will also connect him to other resources and others that are experiencing some of the same struggles as he is. (Velten, 1996, p.105). I will also be teaching him how drinking can contribute to homelessness. (Polcin, 2016). I also want to have a discussion with Sam; about how his diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder can impact his day-to-day life. (Wanklyn et al., 2016).

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

Modern social workers participate actively in helping people to obtain rights, services, benefits and opportunities that they might not otherwise obtain through micro policy advocacy, ?often prioritize the needs of vulnerable populations when they engage in advocacy? (Jansson, 2016, p. 21). Through community immersion, the social worker gains an understanding of the community attributes and desiderata, requiring them to utilize their experience and expertise to advocate policies that will satisfy the client?s needs (NASW, n.d.). Furthermore, when social workers immerse themselves in the community, it becomes an act of care and concern to serve the community. Compelling them to implement new changes, depict workable intervention schemes, and generate attainable treatment plans to satisfy the needs of the individuals, families and community.

Social work is basically a helping profession with the main role of social workers being to help various clients in their varying needs and to enhance their general wellbeing. Therefore, to understand and effectively respond to different client’s needs and demands professional social workers will, therefore, must be well equipped with diverse knowledge on social work practice. According to Gordon, Cooper, B, and Dumbleton, (2009), theoretical knowledge is thus of great importance to social work practice as theories serve as anchoring frames for causal explanation, case assessment, planning of interventions and outcome evaluation.

Social workers are knowledgeable, resourceful, intense in responding to evolving organizational, community, and societal contexts of all levels of practice. Recognize the context of the method is dynamic, use of knowledge and skill to respond to take charge. The final method ten, engage, assess, intervene and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. A professional process involving the dynamic and collective processes of obligation, assessment, intervention, and evaluation at multiple levels. Some of the practices knowledge are, promoting social and economic justice, developing, analyzing, advocating, and leadership of policies and services.

Macro social work seeks to address and resolve social justice issues on a larger scale. Social Workers involved in community organizing encourage and empower citizens to rally around a mutual problem and bring about meaningful change to their community. The administrative and management skills needed to manage and support community organizing are essential for any Social Worker to learn no matter the level at the which they are working. An example of community organizing during our week 13 class discussion about "communities as arenas of change" was the recent gun violence march and protests related to the Parkland school shooting in Florida is an example of making changes at a macro level.

Throughout the process of engaging in macro practice activities, we used micro social work skills, often referred to helping skills (Gockel & Burton, 2014). Interviewing community residents, leaders, and stakeholders, facilitating small focus groups, providing psychoeducation groups are a few examples how we exercised our increasing practice

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