What is Macro Social Work?

Social Worker Interviews

My first interview was done with my Jr. Field Supervisor, Terry. Terry is an outreach social worker at the Whitman Council on Aging, where she has been working for the past 15 years. Terry has been a social worker for about 40 years. Terry defined macro social work practice as “looking at the whole picture”. She said you have to identify the bigger issues and then what you can do to improve the well being and quality of life of individual people out in the community. What she does in her role as the outreach social worker is break that down (the bigger issue) into parts that are manageable. She visits clients in their home to assess their individual needs, which is the micro practice piece, but then she is involved in finding out what programs and resources are available, which is the macro level piece. Terry is involved with SHINE counseling, which is providing information and access to health insurance information of older adults as well as many other community organizations including the Salvation Army. Terry estimates that about 75% of the work she does is macro practice. The leadership skills that she were most valuable to being a successful macro social worker are problem solving, ability to work independently as well as in a group, and the ability to “think on your feet”.

The second interview that I did was with a previous supervisor, Marcia. Marcia is the program director at the Evelyn House, a homeless shelter operated by Father Bills & Mainspring House. Marcia has been working with homeless families involved with this organization for the past five years. She has been a social worker for eight years. Marcia had a difficult time defining macro social work practice. We talked a little bit about what I was learning about it and Marcia said that in her role at Evelyn House her work is dictated by policy. The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) sets forth the guidelines that the shelter has to follow. She has very little wiggle room in how she wants to apply these policies and procedures in her work with the homeless families in the shelter. There are very explicit guidelines and protocols. However she can impact the policies through her involvement in advocacy meetings. Marcia spends time meeting with other professionals who work with homeless families and they put pressure on the powers that be to change policies to better serve clients. Marcia said that from 2009 when she started becoming more involved in advocacy to 2012 policies have improved for the better and things are managed much more efficiently. Marcia indicated that about 25% of her work week is involved in macro practice. She identified assertiveness, passion, and the ability to work well with other people as some of the most important skills necessary for successful macro practice.

The third interview that I did was with my current field supervisor, Rachel. Rachel has recently earned her MSW and has worked for Emmanuel House as a case manager for less than a year. Rachel defined macro practice as efforts to change and improve the quality of life for individuals through larger venues like statewide, nationwide, or global efforts. One example that she gave is the Alzheimer’s organization which seeks to help a large number of people. An example that Rachel gave of macro practice involved in her position as case manager is being involved with Mass ALFA (Assisted Living Federation of America) which allows her to get together with other Assisted Living Communities and discuss what changes need to be made to better serve their clients.  Rachel said she spends about 1 hour a week in macro practice activities. The skills she identified as key to successful macro practice are organizational skills, ability to clearly and concisely state what improvements need to happen, and assertiveness. She said you can’t be afraid to “rock the boat”.

Some Thoughts

There were several things that came to my mind in the course of these interviews.

One, it was awkward to be the one asking these questions of people. At first I felt like I was putting them “on the spot” because they had a hard time answering these questions, but when I really thought about it I felt like-too bad! I have been answering questions like this every day for the past year and a half. I wondered about my ability to answer these questions now as opposed to five years from now, or in the case of Terry 40 years from now! It was interesting to me that the concept of macro practice was difficult to put into simple words.

Two, it seems like there should be more macro practice going on. I have been having conversations with my supervisor about this for the past few weeks. For me there should be three pieces to social work practice; micro practice (working to address individual concerns); macro practice (organizing to address environmental concerns); and empowerment (helping individuals become involved in the conditions and decisions affecting their quality of life).  So as a social worker I work to help strengthen individuals, society, and the relationship between the two. What can we do in the assisted living facility to empower older adults to get involved in advocating for things like more affordable and accessible healthcare for example? Do the homeless families that Marcia works with feel empowered to push for more affordable housing options?

The third thing that came up is the diversity among the three social workers that I interviewed. These three women are in different age groups, have been social workers for varied lengths of time, work in completely different settings and roles, and are from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Each social worker brings their unique perspective to the conversation. I have enjoyed working with each one of them and am grateful that they take the time to share so much of themselves with me.