Introduction to Social Work (Extended Version) — Transcript

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1. 0:00[MUSIC PLAYING]
2. 0:04[MUSIC PLAYING]
3. 0:08Welcome.
4. 0:09This video will address the spectrum of social work
5. 0:13practice, from micro social work, which
6. 0:16is working with individuals, to mezzo social work,
7. 0:19working with families or working with small groups,
8. 0:22to macro social work, the actual focus of this course,
9. 0:28working with agencies, organizations, communities,
10. 0:32and large groups of people.
11. 0:35To begin, a competent social worker
12. 0:38needs to understand the entire spectrum of social work
13. 0:42activity to be effective in any one segment of social work
14. 0:46practice.
15. 0:48That is, social workers need to understand
16. 0:50the interconnectedness of micro social work, mezzo social work,
17. 0:57and macro social work.
18. 0:59In actual practice, most social workers
19. 1:01find themselves working across the spectrum of the field,
20. 1:05without being confined just to one aspect of social work
21. 1:08activity.
22. 1:09Just let's take a look at an example.
23. 1:12Assume that you are a school social worker.
24. 1:15You've been assigned to provide counseling services
25. 1:17to a third-grader in the school.
26. 1:20Now, this would be an excellent example of micro social work
27. 1:23practice.
28. 1:24It's counseling.
29. 1:26In this case, the child was referred to you by the teacher.
30. 1:29The presenting problems include a sullen and uncooperative
31. 1:34attitude, fighting with peers on the playground, failing grades.
32. 1:39You review the child's records and you determine
33. 1:41that he was a good student last year,
34. 1:43and the problems presenting now appear to be new.
35. 1:47After meeting with the child, you
36. 1:48conclude that he seems to be reacting to something going on
37. 1:52in the home.
38. 1:54So you arrange a meeting with the parents
39. 1:57to determine what's going on at home,
40. 2:00an excellent example of mezzo social work practice,
41. 2:04with families.
42. 2:06The parents appear to be loving, caring people who are concerned
43. 2:09about their child.
44. 2:10However, they acknowledge that they're
45. 2:12under a great deal of stress.
46. 2:14Father recently lost his job.
47. 2:16Unemployment benefits plus income
48. 2:18from Mother's part-time job is insufficient to meet
49. 2:21the family of five's needs.
50. 2:24They're falling behind in the rent.
51. 2:26They're struggling economically.
52. 2:28The price of gas is making it difficult for Father
53. 2:30to get around to look for work.
54. 2:32They fear becoming homeless.
55. 2:34You attempt to make referrals for the father
56. 2:36to sources of employment.
57. 2:38Again, now we've shifted back to micro social work
58. 2:41services, case management.
59. 2:43What you find is that the entire community
60. 2:45in which your clients live has been hit hard
61. 2:48by the recent economic recession.
62. 2:50Job training and placement agencies
63. 2:52are not taking new applications, because there are no jobs.
64. 2:57You check with city resources and you
65. 2:59find that the bad news is that funding
66. 3:02for local transportation services
67. 3:04has been cut, reducing the number of buses and trains
68. 3:07available to community residents.
69. 3:09Low-income housing is a top priority for the city,
70. 3:12but at this time, thousands of persons
71. 3:15are living on the street, with no real solution
72. 3:17to this issue on the horizon.
73. 3:20Job resources are meager, and those that are available
74. 3:23include educational and experience requirements
75. 3:26that are well above those of the family you're working with.
76. 3:29While working on this case, you learn on the news
77. 3:32that the state is having a budget problem
78. 3:34and will be cutting basic funding that
79. 3:37supports local transportation, medical care, and job
80. 3:40development for low-income families.
81. 3:44This reduction in funding will result in fewer dollars
82. 3:47to the city, which will in turn impact
83. 3:49the resources available in the local communities.
84. 3:53The target of most of the cuts is low-income and poor people
85. 3:57within the state.
86. 3:58You respond to a call from the NASW state chapter
87. 4:02to petition your state to avoid the harsh cuts for the poor
88. 4:06that are being debated in the state legislature.
89. 4:09Now we're looking at macro social work.
90. 4:11This is advocacy for clientele.
91. 4:14You know from the daily news that the national economy
92. 4:17is struggling to recover from a severe recession,
93. 4:20resulting in reorganization and redistribution
94. 4:24of federal resources that will reduce support to the states
95. 4:27in providing services to low-income
96. 4:29and working poor families.
97. 4:31Homelessness and hunger, identified national concerns
98. 4:35which are the threats to the child in your school,
99. 4:38is not being addressed with sufficient strength
100. 4:41to meet the national need.
101. 4:43Proposed legislation that would begin to address the problem
102. 4:46is unlikely to pass because of the cost involved.
103. 4:50You write to your two US senators, urging passage
104. 4:53of legislation that will assist the members of your community
105. 4:57struggling to find work and to locate reasonable housing.
106. 5:00Again, an example of macro social work-- advocacy.
107. 5:05From local and national news and information
108. 5:08from your local professional organization,
109. 5:10you know that one of the issues resulting in unemployment
110. 5:13of the father of your client is outsourcing
111. 5:16of jobs in the United States to other countries.
112. 5:19The global economy, as it has emerged over the past 20 years,
113. 5:23is stripping the country of the range of jobs, particularly
114. 5:26those at the low end of the job market, that were at one time
115. 5:29available within local communities.
116. 5:32And there appear to be few employment replacement
117. 5:35opportunities being developed.
118. 5:37Social workers involved in policy development--
119. 5:40an example of social work macro practice--
120. 5:43are needed to address basic issues of employment that
121. 5:46affect the country all the way down to the community, family,
122. 5:51and child level, as demonstrated by the child
123. 5:53with whom you're working in your school.
124. 5:56Regardless of their focus of practice along the social work
125. 5:59spectrum, effective social workers
126. 6:02understand that the interconnectedness
127. 6:05of micro to macro social work forms the heart of social work
128. 6:10practice.