Balancing Micro and Macro Practice: A Challenge for Social Work

Abstract

The time to recalibrate the imbalance between micro and macro social work is now. There is an important initiative in progress, as we will show, to infuse the foundational macro component of our profession into the classroom and field to achieve a more equal footing with its clinical counterpart. This effort reflects and reinforces the understanding that social problems require complex and sustained intervention at all levels of social work practice. It has gained momentum since President Obama’s identification as the “community organizer-in-chief,” along with significant nationwide movements in the past several years, such as the “Occupy” social protests and immigrant rights actions. In the context of these developments, there is a growing awareness of the relatively small percentage of social work students enrolled in macro methods who will be prepared to actively participate and provide skilled leadership at the grassroots, policy, coalition, and electoral levels (Council on Social Work Education [CSWE], 2012). This awareness was fortified by a recent study of the membership of the Association for Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA), where macro faculty reported a problematic level of support from their schools/ departments in this area of social work education (Rothman, 2013). Historically, the social work profession took root having a twofold micro–macro mission. Pioneer social worker Mary Richmond represented service to individuals and families needing aid to alleviate difficulties in social functioning. Her contemporary counterpart, Jane Addams, represented social reform through environmental change to meet broad human needs. This dual approach to practice has defined the profession since its inception. Indeed, during the Progressive era, according to historians, the macro area had a strong presence