Macro Systems Paper
Amanda Swift
BSHS 325
November 10, 2014
Johnetta Barnes

Macro Systems Paper
Empowerment understands your own strengths and resources available to you in order to solve your own problems. Empowerment has several dimensions including personal, interpersonal, and political understanding. Personal empowerment comes from within the self. It is closely related to self-worth. The idea of empowerment can push a person towards their personal goals. Interpersonal empowerment is more than one person working toward a goal. These people collectively contribute the strengths and knowledge to reach the goal. Lastly, political empowerment is government working to help communities by providing strategies for success on specific issues. It often includes funding and services provided by social work teams.
Social work is defined as the work carried out by trained personnel with the aim of alleviating certain conditions of those in need. Social work, at its core, is divided into subcategories; micro, mezzo, and macro. The micro system refers to the individual and their specific needs, problems, and strengths. Micro systems focus on how the individual might address issues, generate solutions, and make the best effective choices (Zastrow, 2009). Micro systems look at different ways to enhance a person’s functioning in society. These include physical and psychological issues. In contrast to the micro system, the mezzo system consists of small groups. Families, work ties, and social groups are part of the mezzo system. The mezzo system is often closely related to the micro system because it is difficult to distinguish an individual from themselves and their groups. An example of this would be a child and his peers at school. The child is an individual in of themselves but, the peer group (social) is also very much a part of the child. Finally, the macro system is society at large and how it affects the individual. The macro system entails the social, political, and economic structures defining the person. These can be policies, legislation, and how the community reacts to social issues. The three systems are closely tied together and for change to occur all three systems must be addressed.
A few of the major issues affecting society and community are child maltreatment, sexual abuse, crime and delinquency. Child maltreatment is the all-consuming term for child abuse and neglect by a care giver that threatens the development of the child. The government has placed laws and safety regulations to help protect children. Agencies such as Child Protective Services (CPS) and Department of Human Services (DHS) help educate caregivers ensuring continuing safety and provide services to place children with safe people. Sexual abuse closely follows these guidelines and includes safety measures like court appointed volunteers and classes to prevent abuse. Consistent monitoring and placement of the victim away from the abuser also assure meeting the victim’s needs and safety.
Crime and delinquency are seen often in the courts. Delinquency is seen in adolescents and the courts have adjusted laws and guidelines to reflect the individual’s age and maturity. Communities have several programs geared toward juveniles to alleviate crime. Community based courts, drug courts, and innovative forums that include the individual in order to lower the rates of recidivism. Many times crime, delinquency, and child maltreatment are a direct result of the individual’s environment and economic depression. Poverty is the deprivation of basic needs; without basic needs people sometimes revert to acts of desperation, especially if children are involved. Frustrations can manifest from social issues such as poverty. Children become victims, adolescents turn to delinquency, and adults can lie and steal.
There are two different views of poverty in society. The functionalist view says that people who suffer from poverty deserve it because they lack the skills and knowledge to benefit from society. In contrast, the interactionist view believes that society is a direct result made possible because people interact. Those interactions and details of life are related to how society will react to certain situations. The interactionist view looks at individuals separately and combined, but can neglect the social institutions that help. The functionalist view, on the other hand, is interdependent and contributory (Norlin, 2009). For example, services such as food banks and clothing closets would be functionalist and help relieve the issues of poverty, although not in its entirety.
For each individual issue a social worker must be able to remain objective and level-headed. Social workers handle cases involving a wide set of ramifications. Things such as physical, psychological, and sociological must be handled with finesse. The social worker needs to have the ability to identify problems, study why the problems are there, and analyze strategies with the individual to solve the issue. Social workers must interact not only with the individual, but often with extended family, agencies, and both formal and informal supports in order to relieve the individual of the specific problem.
It’s very important for the social worker to have boundaries. These will provide them with a safety net that enables success for the individual, as well as for the worker. Within this construct, a social worker should remain empathetic, open, and interested in the individual. Sometimes, a good imagination helps too. Thinking outside of the box can either make or break an issue. Lastly, social workers should be flexible and ethical and remember that what worked for one person may not work for another without tweaking the solution.

Bibliography
Smith, D. O., Norlin, R., & Chess, J. (2009). Human behavior and social environment:Social systems theory. Boston: Pearson.

Zastrow, C. H. (n.d.). Understanding human behavior and social environment. In C. H. Zastrow. Belmont: Brooks/Cole.