Columbia University School of Social Work
 
T7124 Macro Practice

Overview and Rationale

This course is an in-depth study of theory and practice of planned change in social service delivery which consists of individuals, teams/groups, organizations, and their host communities. Social work supervisors, managers, and administrators are key agents of effective change in macro-systems and are responsible for understanding and intervening in all of these arenas so as to improve service effectiveness to the client. To fulfill this responsibility, they must rely on their professional practice skills in assessing, diagnosing, developing, and changing individuals, teams/groups, and organizations; and analyzing and building productive community partnerships. This course offers the SEA student the opportunity to build these skills by applying them to real team/group, organizations, or community settings.

Learning Outcomes

In this course, students will learn to . . .

  1. Discuss theories and models of individuals, teams/groups, organizations, and communities, as well as methods for assessing, diagnosing, developing, and changing each.
  2. Describe models as they relate to individuals, teams/groups, organizations, and communities.
  3. Complete an assessment of a component(s) of the service delivery system (individuals, teams/groups, organization, and/or community).
  4. Develop and implement a planned change intervention within some direct or indirect component(s) of an organization's service delivery system.
  5. Present the potential efficacy of a planned intervention in terms of its impact on service effectiveness.

Council on Social Work Education Core Competencies

This course contributes toward mastery of the following core areas of social work competency identified by the Council on Social Work Education.

Social workers . . .

  • Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments.
  • Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research.
  • Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.
  • Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being, and to deliver effective social work services.
  • Engage individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  • Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  • Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  • Evaluate individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Core Content Themes

  • Organizations and communities as complex systems and instruments of domination
  • Nature of managerial work
  • Creating intrinsic motivation and commitment
  • Developing organizational practices and processes that promote justice
  • Effective use of power and influence in organizations and communities
  • Effective coalition building in organizations and communities
  • (Re)designing jobs and work team to facilitate intrinsic motivation and performance
  • Organizational structure as processes of integration and life cycles
  • Internal and external strategies for sustaining an organization's competitive advantage
  • Creating public value in not-for-profit and public sector organizations
  • Definitions of and perspectives on communities, both rural and urban
  • Tools and techniques for collecting data on communities
  • Identifying, organizing, and utilizing community resources
  • Strategies for sustainable community development in domestic and international contexts