SOWK 5314

Chapt 1:

What is Macro Practice:

• Professions are therefore client oriented and conform to a set of values that encapsulate the community good that is to be served. In many ways, it is this commitment to the understanding and changing of larger systems that defines social work. 
• Porter Lee (1937) described the dual calling of social work—to address systemic social problems and to provide for the needs of individuals and families. 
• Being a social worker requires seeing the client as part of multiple, overlapping systems that comprise the person’s social and physical environment. 
• The profession of social work is committed to seeking social and economic justice in concert with vulnerable and underserved populations, and macro-practice skills are necessary in confronting these inequalities. 

Macro Practice Arenas and Goals:

• Small groups : collections of people who collaborate on tasks that move toward agreed-upon changes. 
• Small groups are often the nucleus around which change strategies are developed in both communities and organizations, and they are therefore more logically conceptualized as part of the strategy or medium for change rather than the focus of change.
• The majority of social workers deal with change directly with clients, usually working with individuals one on one, or with fami- lies or small groups.
• Social workers de- velop and organize communities around the world. They advocate for policy change and work as policy analysts in local, regional, national, and even inter- national arenas.

• Watch the video on collaborating with
• colleagues and clients for effective policy action in community organization. What change arena do the community members focus on in the meeting?
• Social work practice is broadly defined and allows for both micro (individual, do- mestic unit, or group) and macro interventions (organization, community, or policy). See Box 1.1.