Micro, Mezzo and Macro Social Work

Micro, Mezzo and Macro Social Work  -

Micro Level practice focuses on personal interaction with your client or consumer on an individual level or with a couple or family. A micro-level intervention could entail a clinical social worker interacting with a client at a mental health facility. Alternatively, it could encompass a school social worker counseling a truant student or a caseworker working one on one with a client at a homeless shelter.

Mezzo Level intervention entails bringing people together who are not as intimate as a couple or family members, but might mutually build and benefit from this social or resource network. It might directly change the system that is affecting a client, such as a classroom or neighborhood group. Examples of mezzo scale work includes group therapy counseling, self-help groups or neighborhood community associations. 

Macro Level practice focuses on systemic issues. It might include creating and maintaining a network of service providers in order to establish a continuum of care. Macro level intervention can intersect with the political realm by creating and lobbying for policy changes. The planning, implementation and maintenance of a social programs are also processes which macro scale practice is aplicable. Coordinating multiple services and policy work offers an opportunity to address several intersecting social problems. 

http://savedsister7.blogspot.com/2012/03/you-knowthose-people.html

Ecological System's HABITAT and NICHE

Keep in mind: "Ecological systems theory posits that individuals constantly engage in transactions with other humans and with other systems in the environment, and that these individuals and systems reciprocally influence each other" (Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney, and Strom-Gottfried. Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skill. 15). Considering this perspective, comprehensively understanding and actively considering your client's environment is a crucial social work skill. 

Habitat- A person's habitat includes the different physical places they inhabit, the social systems that they interact with and the formal and informal institutional affiliations they have. For example, a person's habitat might include their educational institution, their religious affiliation, their neighborhood, their friends, their professional environment and/or their family.

Niche- A niche describes that person's role in their habitat. People have multiple roles within their different habitats, providing them with contextual meanings. A person might derive self-worth and dignity from their functions or alternatively their niche might highlight oppressive and disenfranchising situations. Within an educational institution, someone might be an instructor, while simultaneously being a volunteer at their local food pantry. A person's niche contextualizes different hierarchies, contributes to their identity and modulates social and institutional interactions.