Level of Intervention

Social work interventions can generally be described as scientifically established processes and patterns social workers apply to cases of individuals, groups and communities.

With an understanding that the individual could be affected by some other relational patterns like the family, workplace, peers and the community, practice with these other clientele categories led to further introduction of group work and community organization (Austin, Coombs & Barr, 2005). Hence, social workers in practicing with individuals, groups and communities now intervene at micro, mezzo, and macro levels respectively.

Having a mastery of all three is today seen as the foundational level of learning social work, which is referred to as “generalist social work practice” (Miley, O’Melia & DuBois, 2010; Derezotes, 2000; Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 1999).

So, while the micro level mode of social work intervention is the most commonly practiced, and happens directly with an individual client or a family on clinical grounds, mezzo social work intervention happens on an intermediate scale, involving neighborhoods, institutions or other smaller groups. While macro level interventions are provided on a large scale that affect an entire community and very large systems of care. Discussing these several intervention levels will help for further illumination.

Micro-level intervention in social work practice

Micro social work is the most common kind of social work intervention and happens directly with individual client or family

In micro social work intervention, the social worker engages with individuals or families to solve problems. It involves working clinically with individuals, families, or very small groups. Its essence is to engage directly, deeply and extensively, for the purpose of facilitating changes in individual behavior or relationships. Individuals often seek social work services because they experience difficulties with personal adjustment, interpersonal relationships, or environmental stresses (Miley & DuBois, 2010). Changes at this level focus on creating changes in individuals’ functioning.

common examples include helping individuals to discover themselves, overcome addictions, learn desirable behaviours, adopt acceptable adjustments to a new environment, coordinate discharge services for patients, overcome emotional trauma, secure protective services for the abused, provide mental health therapy, find appropriate housing, health care and social services.

It is important to note that social work with individuals can take different forms depending on the philosophy and perspective of the social worker. While some social workers may address personal problems, others may emphasize social relations underlying the problem, and others may still take the two dimensions at the same time. Although micro level interventions create changes in individual, familial, and interpersonal functioning, social workers do not necessarily direct all their efforts at changing individuals themselves. Often, workers target changes in other systems, including changes in the social and physical environments, to facilitate improvement in an individual’s or family’s social functioning.

social work practice, the goal of enhancement and maintenance of psychosocial functioning of individuals, families, and small groups.

It is a direct form of practice with individuals, families, and small groups addressing problems and dysfunctional issues at the intra-psychic and interpersonal levels within an environmental context (Austin, Coombs & Barr, 2005).

To work with micro level clients, social workers need to know about individual, interpersonal, family, and group dynamics as well as human development, social psychology, and the effects of environmental influences on individuals, family members and small groups. To work effectively at this level, social workers would have to acquire sufficient clinical skills like counselling, questioning/probing, listening, crisis intervention, mindfulness, etc. (Miley & DuBois, 2010).

Mezzo level mode of intervention in social work practice

Mezzo social work happens on intermediate scale, involving neighbourhoods, institutions or more diverse and larger groups. At this level of intervention, social work practice deals with small-to-medium-sized groups, such as neighborhoods, schools, organizations/associations, among others. Examples of mezzo social work include: managing the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of schools, managing decision making of school management or a Student Union Government, working with groups within communities for developmental essence, resolving disputes across groups, facilitating workshops for companies and industries, to mention but few

Generally, the mezzo level (midlevel) of social work intervention represents working with formal groups and complex organizations. Examples of formal groups include teams, groups, interdisciplinary task forces, task-oriented groups, community service clubs and self-help groups; and complex organizations include social service agencies, health care organizations, educational systems, and correctional facilities. With midlevel intervention, the focus of change is on groups or organizations themselves. Factors such as their functions, structures, roles, patterns of decision making, and styles of interaction influence the process of change (Miley & DuBois, 2010).

Social workers engaged in mezzo practice are often also engaged in micro and/or macro social work. This ensures that the needs and challenges of these groups are met through drawing resources from individuals and the wider society.

The target of the social worker at mezzo level according to Ezeh, Ezeah and Aniche (2000) is to enable people function effectively in groups and derive maximum satisfaction from group participation. The emphasis is on the education, development, growth and maturity of the members of a group, and the possibilities for development and social adjustments where necessary. In mezzo level intervention, the client system is literally the group or organization. Working at this level necessitates understanding dynamics of formal groups, and knowing how to facilitate mezzo level change is crucial for developing quality programmes and services. Effective mezzo level work requires skills in organizational planning, decision making, and conflict resolution (Miley & DuBois, 2010).

The term group work was first used in 1927 during the development of social work curriculum for the training of social workers. But 1930s and 40s group work became an intervention method used by professional social workers for inpatients in healthcare and mental health facilities, persons with developmental disabilities, and those who were veterans of the World War II (Austin et al, 2005).

Turner (1999) described two types of groups namely: treatment groups and task groups. The treatment group is the one that meets the members’ socio-emotional needs, while the task groups accomplishes a mandate and complete the work for which the group was convened, thereby having nothing to do with the needs of the individual members of the group.

According to McKeller, Stewart and Humphreys (2003) and Okoye (2011), the following are some of the problems that can be handled using group work. They include: problems relating to addiction, problems relating to loss or bereavement, problems of unemployment, people living with HIV/AIDS and other terminal diseases, people who are marginalized, among others. Social workers believe that some of these problems cannot be handled on one-ono-one basis. Therefore, there is the need to bring people that have similar problems together, so they could share experiences and ideas that would provide and/or impact solutions to their problems.

Macro level mode of intervention in social work practice

This is a level of intervention provided on a large scale that affect the entire community and very broad systems of care. Macro level intervention in social work is designed to bring about planned change in communities (Netting, Kettner & McMurtry, 1993). Macro level practice includes working with collection of neighborhoods, communities, and societies to achieve social change and development.

With regard to macro level intervention, social work is “society’s conscience in action”. They strive to eliminate social problems that affect the optimal social functioning of citizens, erode the quality of life, or weaken the structure of the society (Miley & DuBois, 2010).

The macro level mode of intervention includes the knowledge and skills related to community organizing, agency/programme management, and policy practice. It is sometimes called “community social work practice” (Austin, Coombs & Barr, 2005). According to the Encyclopedia of Social work, macro level mode of intervention includes those activities performed in organizational, community, and policy arenas. For the most part, welfare concerns of persons are determined at those heights. This is one reason social workers are trained to influence and formulate policies, rules, regulations and legalities that would represent the welfare concerns of people. Such skills like: advocacy, dialogue, mediation, lobbying, among other dialectical instruments, are needed at this level to inspire, drive and facilitate potentials of collective consciousness toward social change, emancipation and development. Macro level interventions target communities, in addition to local, state and federal governments, as well as all their ministries, departments and agencies. The aim is to ensure wellbeing for a very large group of people.

social workers at the macro level intervention help resolve intergroup tensions and community problems by initiating resolution pathways, social actions and social change through community organizing, economic empowerment, legislative action, dialogue, and policy formulation.

macro level practice requires knowledge of community standards, values, and potentials in mobilizing the community for problem solving. Also, social workers need to have an understanding of vulnerable and oppressed populations in the society, as well as primary and secondary resources in and outside of the immediate society that could alleviate their distresses.

Methods of Social Work