Social Work Reflection Paper

One of the biggest takeaways I got from this semester is the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro levels of practice. I loved the interdisciplinary aspect of this practice as it shows that one should incorporate more than one perspective when approaching a problem. The micro level refers to the individual and his attributes; the mezos is the context that the individual is surrounded by and the macro-system is the process of social planning and how the organization of the community is (Hepworth, 2013). I have learned that to be an effective social worker; I needed knowledge related to all the three levels. In Mike’s reflection on power, oppression, and privilege, he employs all of this aspects when he takes about oppression in society.

Client empowerment appropriately requires me to engage with the client, do an assessment, have empathy and listen. This helps me identify the client’s strengths and know how to amplify them. Amplification will come through communication bewteen me and the client. The communication should be sufficient and I should observe all cues, both verbal and non-verbal. Knowing how to be useful in the practical area of social practice has enabled me to advance more in my profession. Going through the three different levels of practice, Micro, Mezzo, and Macro helped me realize this. I have even learnt to appreciate the social worker practice even further as there are many scenarios in my life where the help I offered was not enough to solve the problem at hand.

One case scenario is where I was helping a friend of mine who was diagnosed with obesity. i now know that my problem was that I focused on the micro level of practice and failed to acknowledge the mezzo aspect, his family, friends, and school, which may have played a role in his problem. The awareness of rational theoretical approaches is therefore important. For me to become a professional social worker, I need to develop my knowledge on the underlying theoretical approaches that there are in social work. This will help me identify the areas that I need to work on such as client empowerment and effective communication. Skills that I need to work are proper engagement, proper assessment, planning. I should also work on how well I evaluate a client and implement the plan that I have developed for him or her.