The ecological perspective encourages social workers to view clients in terms of their relationships with their environments, including factors like family systems, culture, institutions, and hierarchies. As part of the psychosocial orientation, the ecological approach generally considers three different levels of individual experience: the macro, the mezzo, and the micro. The macro level includes broader societal factors including those related to public policy but also to culture, norms, worldview, and value systems. Mezzo structures include intermediate social institutions such as schools or neighborhood level organizations. The micro level issues are those most immediate to the client’s life including relationships with kin and psychological issues. The ecological model provides a balanced view of the client because it takes into account the interplay between micro, mezzo, and macro levels rather than limiting the focus on just one problem. Similarly, a generalist approach to social work can interface with the ecological model. The generalist approach allows social workers to target any of the three levels to promote change (Watson, 2014). This report will focus on one macro level issue to illustrate how that macro level issue might impact an individual client in the community. Moreover, this report will show how changing the macro level issues might not necessarily lead to micro level improvements in the client’s wellbeing. Only by taking into account micro, mezzo, and macro levels together is it possible to illustrate a healthy, desirable, and goal-driven developmental transition for the client. In this hypothetical case, an individual is transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. The individual has a history of both eating disorders and substance use. As Shanske, Arnold, Carvalho & Rein (2012) point out, social workers frequently serve as the de facto case managers during developmental transitions. The “significant psychosocial considerations impacting this developmental process are...
Social workers are uniquely equipped to handle developmental transitions precisely because of their application of the ecological approach and the emphasis on the generalist approach to working with clients from diverse backgrounds and who may have differential goals and needs. Developmental transition is a term used in social work and healthcare to describe the critical period when a client shifts from one stage to another, such as from adolescence to adulthood, or from adulthood into old age. The developmental transition can be difficult in situations where the social institutions at both the mezzo and macro level do not offer sufficient supports.References
Buchbinder, E., Eiskovitz, Z. & Karnieli-Miller, O. (2014). Social workers’ perceptions of the balance between the psychological and the social. Social Service Review 2004. Retrieved online: http://www.mosa.gov.il/CommunityInfo/PersonnelForums/Documents/Social%20Workers%20Perceptions%20of%20the%20Balance%20between%20the%20Psychological%20and%20the%20Social%20%E2%80%93%20Buchbinder,%20EisikovitsKarnieli-miller.pdf
Shanske, S., Arnold, J., Carvalho, M. & Rein, J. (2012). Social workers as transition brokers: facilitating the transition from pediatric to adult medical care. Social Work Health Care 51(4): 279-295.
Watson, C. (2014). Generalist social work. Lipscomb University. Retrieved online: https://www.lipscomb.edu/socialwork/filter/item/0/28229
Social Justice Social Work Value/Social Justice- For centuries, philosophers have puzzled the human condition. Since humans have lived together there have been queries about how and why humans acts the way they do, not just individually, but how they form partnerships, groups and are able to cooperate enough for survival and the future possibilities for society. In particular. As technology continues to increase, so do the complexities of societal integration, and
The ultimate aim is then to cultivate skills that he can use on his own to help him maintain a constructive life and relationships. What is interesting is that, although we are completely different in terms of culture, values and background, my client and I both have the same basic expectations and needs in terms of the social work relationship. We both need the professional to understand us on the
Vision Social workers contribute to a just society by being compassionate and caring individuals that provide the kind of support and assistance that people need in times of need. They work with children, families, and adults to get them help in terms of food, shelter, get them into training programs, and even refer them to services to help with employment (Coady & Lehmann, 2016). They are the first lines of assistance
The reason why is because, Michael has not engaged in any kind of behavior that is considered to be a crisis. If there were other underlying issues that he was wrestling with (such as: drug abuse, alcoholism or uncontrolled rages), then this kind of technique would need to be utilized. as, this will help the social worker to: intervene in those situations where the behavior of the individual is
Broadening one's perspective improves the quality and caliber of dialogue and debate because general knowledge becomes a common ground of discussion. Moreover, seeing the broader picture through generalization allows for more educated opinions. Without a general education, specialists tend to stick only to what they know or rely on the opinions of other people, likely other specialists. A generalist can help bridge gaps between disparate areas of expertise, and
Social Services Entity Social work is a demanding field that warrants a closer examination as to the effectiveness of the social workers in the Child Protective Services Agency. With increased caseloads, social workers may not meet the needs of its constituents. Furthermore, decision-making and judgment may be impaired due to the associated level of stress experienced. In the field of social work, the goal is to make a difference in the
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