A social worker who provides services to individuals is best described as practicing on the level

Social work doesn’t just help individual people. Instead, it works across three scales — micro, mezzo and macro — to create change.

What does a social worker do? If you believe the mainstream media, which generally portrays social workers engaging in one-on-one sessions with individuals or perhaps with families, you might perceive the position as one that functions on a relatively small scale.

In reality, this is only one type of work that social workers do. The practice is typically categorized into three interrelated scales: micro, mezzo and macro. For those considering a career in social work, an understanding of the vast opportunities available at each level is imperative.

1) Micro-Level

When people imagine the day-to-day activities of social workers, they’re usually thinking about the micro level. This is the most common type of social work, and involves direct interaction with clients to address individual problems.

Common examples of micro-level work include helping people find housing, health care and social services. Individual and family counseling also fall under this category, as do certain kinds of mental health and substance abuse treatment. Micro-level social work can be offered by agencies and nonprofits, as well as in schools, police departments or even the military.

Since micro-level social work involves sensitive interactions with individuals, undergraduate degrees in fields like psychology or sociology can be especially helpful for students hoping to work in this field.

2) Mezzo-Level

While micro social work happens on an individual level, mezzo-level social work zooms out to look at groups instead of individuals. Of course, the smallest “group” is the family unit, but mezzo social work extends far beyond that. Many practitioners use micro and mezzo social work simultaneously to solve problems in businesses, schools, organizations and communities.

Since mezzo-level social work addresses group issues, it is a valuable tool for creating small-scale institutional, social and cultural change. Undergraduate degrees in psychology (with an emphasis on group psychology) or sociology help build a solid foundation for this kind of work.

3) Macro-Level

Macro-level social work involves interventions and advocacy on a large scale, affecting entire communities, states or even countries. It helps clients by intervening in large systems that may seem beyond the reach of individuals.

For many people unfamiliar with the field, macro-level work may not even be recognizable as social work. Macro social workers may be involved in crafting laws or petitioning local, state or even federal governments for funds to help communities. They may also organize state- or nation-wide activist campaigns.

Since macro social work often involves governmental assistance or interventions, an undergraduate background in a macro-level discipline like political science will prepare students well for this career path.

Working Across the Scales

While certain social workers specialize in one aspect of the micro-to-macro scale, most social workers interact with all three levels. As such, social workers must understand the entire spectrum and how the scales interact.

Think of a school counselor, for example, who is tasked with helping a child who is facing difficulties at school and acting out. While the initial interaction between counselor and student represents social work on the micro-level, the counselor may discover that the child is reacting to negative situations at home. At this point, the social worker may move into the mezzo level to address the family conflicts at the root of the student’s behavior. This can easily scale up to the macro level: if familial instability is caused by adverse economic conditions, the social worker could, in turn, begin to advocate for better job training within the community.

Without an understanding of every stage from micro to macro, social workers will struggle to enact individual, group or society-wide change. Success in social work depends on the ability to seamlessly navigate and combine all levels of social work to deliver successful outcomes for clients and communities.

If you have a heart for helping others, social work could be the perfect career for you. Social workers play a crucial role in assisting families in crisis, individuals with mental illness, and communities plagued by poor health, unemployment, homelessness, substance abuse, child neglect, and other complex social issues.

With an increase in demand for health care and social services, social worker jobs are expected to grow 13 percent between 2019 and 2029, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of May 2021. The number of jobs available will vary by specialization, and for most licensed careers in this field, you’ll need a master’s degree in social work.

Before actively pursuing a career in social work, consider which area of social work you’d like to pursue. Social work is typically divided into three scopes of practice:

Understanding Macro, Mezzo, and Micro Social Work

These three areas of focus in social work practice may overlap but it is important to understand the distinctions between these social work approaches.

Macro Social Work

What is Macro Social Work?

Macro social work encompasses practices like social work research, program development for small and large communities, community-based education initiatives, policy analysis and advocacy, non-profit administration and leadership, and organizational development.

Social workers in this category can frequently be found at government agencies, non-profit organizations, think tanks, and advocacy groups. They typically collaborate with a larger team of researchers, advocates, activists, analysts, educators, and/or government employees. They might lobby to change a health care law or organize a state-wide activist group to advocate for large-scale social policy change.

Because of its focus on policy change and fighting against unjust government or economic practices, macro social work ultimately builds stronger communities and provides better quality of life for the people living in them.

Michael Reisch, the Daniel Thursz Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Social Justice at the University of Maryland, noted that macro social work focuses on the big picture and the prevention of societal problems.

Students in a macro MSW program receive general instruction in social work theory, research methodologies, and ethics, as well as in the design and implementation of social welfare and assistance initiatives.

To learn more about some of the benefits of macro social from an actual social worker, read our interview with Lisa Primm, an executive director of a nonprofit in Tennessee.

Mezzo Social Work

What is Mezzo Social Work?

Mezzo social work is provided on an intermediate scale, involving neighborhoods, institutions, or other smaller groups. Mezzo-level social workers, for example, serve on the staff of schools, hospitals, community centers, and prisons.

Clinical social workers at the mezzo level could coordinate care for their patients and diagnose mental health problems in a hospital setting.

Mezzo practice also can include facilitating substance abuse treatment groups or working with offenders or victims within the criminal justice system.

Mezzo-level social workers advocate for and serve clients within all the public systems that make up the fabric of our communities, regions, and nation.

School social workers, for instance, provide support services for students struggling personally, academically or socially. They could provide guidance and intervention on issues such as bullying and truancy.

Often, mezzo-level social workers are also engaged in micro and/or macro social work. This ensures the needs and challenges of individual clients are understood and addressed in tandem with larger social issues.

Micro Social Work

What is Micro Social Work?

When you think of social workers helping a child in foster care or locating housing for a homeless individual, this is micro-level social work.

Family therapy and individual counseling are included under the micro umbrella, as is military social work, where the social worker helps military service members cope with the challenges accompanying military life and access their benefits.

Social workers on the micro level are protecting society’s most vulnerable individuals, including young children, people with mental disabilities, victims of domestic violence, and elderly people in many different aspects of their lives.

Along with providing individual counseling, micro-level social workers connect their clients with important resources, such as temporary housing, healthcare, and mental health services, that will improve their lives.

Once you have figured out that you want to become a social worker and which area of social work you would like to pursue, visit our list of online MSW programs to explore schools.

What is the Difference Between Macro, Mezzo and Micro Social Work?

Macro vs Micro Social Work

Unlike micro social work, macro social work does not focus on assessing and addressing an individual’s problems through one-on-one or small-group assessments and treatment. Instead, macro social support clients in a more holistic fashion by serving as an advocate for them. Their work includes influencing public policy, conducting research, working with government agencies, organizing activists, drafting petitions, or supporting legislation. However, this doesn’t mean that macro-level social work does not have direct outcomes, Reisch, of the University of Maryland, pointed out.

“One of the fallacies is that macro social work is indirect, while micro practice is sometimes referred to as direct practice,” Reisch said. “It’s incorrect because in both areas, you are working with people, just in different contexts for different ends.”

The need for macro social workers exceeds that of micro social workers. Reisch said that in the last 50 years, more social workers have gravitated toward mezzo and micro work, partly due to the distance from the War on Poverty of the 1960s. Also, women, who once had barriers to law and business professions, became social workers as a way to fulfill a desire to influence policy. They now have more career choices. However, he said, the trend may be shifting. In the last couple of years, he’s noticed an uptick in students pursuing macro areas of study.

“Increasingly, with what’s happening with politics, more and more critical decisions are going to be made at the local level,” he said. “There is a role there for social workers to work at the community level and to advocate for more socially just policies.”

Macro vs Mezzo Social Work

Mezzo social work programs differ from macro and micro programs in that they do not specifically focus on individual or widespread community needs.

Since some of the work on the mezzo level will be on an individual level and some will be with larger groups, the skill-set required for professionals in this field may be more diverse than those in micro or macro positions. For instance, the skills to speak to large groups differs from the skills necessary to communicate effectively with people who have experienced trauma.

Micro vs Mezzo Social Work

While social workers at both the mezzo and micro-levels work with individuals, mezzo social workers typically find their clients within the fabric of a larger organization, such as a school or community center.

Meanwhile, micro social workers typically conduct individual and family counseling, help individuals navigate resources such as Medicare or Medicaid, and intervene in situations in which clients encounter a crisis or distress (i.e. domestic abuse, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder).

Many social workers engage in micro and mezzo practice simultaneously. Even the most ambitious mezzo-level interventions stem from conversations between a single social worker and a single client.

While certain social workers specialize in one aspect of the micro-to-macro scale, most social workers interact with all three levels. Because of this phenomenon, social workers must understand the entire spectrum and how the different scales interact.

Disclosure: Michael Reisch, the Daniel Thursz Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Social Justice at the University of Maryland was interviewed via phone.