Background of Social Work

Micro and Macro Practice | Background of Social Work The profession of social work sparked off as an effort to aid the impoverished, needy and marginalized classes of a swiftly evolving social order. This aim is still pursued to this day, though possibly with a few sporadic departures from the initial direction and spirit. In America, social work mostly resulted from the very industrial revolution which gave rise to an industrial society and welfare state.

Industrialization resulted in a factory system requiring flocks of concentrated personnel, eventually bringing about the phenomena of mass migration, urbanization, and innumerable related issues. Social work served as a reaction to mass impoverishment, illiteracy, mental health issues, disease, food shortage, and several other urban issues. The Settlement House Movement and Charities Organization Society developed in response to the aforementioned issues, guiding social work's development and professionalization in America (McNutt, 2013).

The Dichotomy between Micro and Macro Practice in Social Work Profession Hahn (2013) claims the two-fold approach of fostering social transformation and offering individual service represents a key trait of the social work profession. This field integrates micro (individual, group or domestic unit) as well as macro (organization, community, or policy) interventions.

Often, micro-level social workers cater to individual people, families or small groups, whereas macro-level social workers typically participate in policy making and revision, as policy reformation is deemed to be highly critical to what's perceived in a majority of organizations and communities. Micro-level social workers are responsible for initiating organizational and community change. Often, these social workers recognize the issue as well as patterns suggesting what requires change. If only a couple of individuals exhibit any given problem, social workers tend to prefer dealing separately with these people.

If a larger number of individuals are seen suffering the ill consequences of a given problem, social workers presume client interaction systems are probably being problematic. At this juncture, social workers adopt the duty of identifying systems needing change and the precise type of change needed. Change nature and type might lead to community- or company- wide (i.e., macro) approaches. Here, the issue will be resolved at micro (individual) as well as macro (community) levels (Hahn, 2013).

Another difference between macro and micro social work approaches are based on the kind of evaluation social workers undertake. Micro-level workers' procedures entail individual bio-psychosocial appraisal. Small group and individual (micro) interventions may be described as clinical/mutual assistance or clinical/case management group interventions, while macro-level arenas involve policy, communities, and organizations (Hahn, 2013). Micro Practice Dominance in Social Work Traditionally, the profession of social work originated as a dual macro-micro mission.

Mary Richmond, a social work pioneer delivered services to individual people and families requiring support to allay their social functioning challenges. Jane Addams, her contemporary colleague, was the face of social reform via environmental transformation to address the general needs of mankind. Indeed, historians claim the progressive age macro area had a powerful presence, demanding social workers' careful attention. Mary Richmond's pioneering 1917 work, Social Diagnosis, was the first to present systematic techniques for social workers, especially for those catering to families and individuals.

A short time later, during the 1920s, Freudian psychoanalytical theories emerged in America, and were enthusiastically welcomed in order to boost the intellectual status of casework. Micro social work practice was proceeding well, though it has, over the years, striven to define its distinctiveness from other areas of mental health (Rothman & Mizrahi, 2014). It has been elucidated by Hahn (2013) that micro social work strategies have predominated because of social workers' ability of establishing strength-based aid and sympathetic.