ABSTRACT
Using a powerful illustration drawn from the headlines of the day, the author demonstrates how “the micro/macro formulation perpetuates [the] separation of means and ends.” He also provides an insightful summary of the history of this issue in the field. The social work profession is more frequently polarized. If social workers cannot divide a happening in two, placing one part in opposition to the other, they suspect its essence escapes them. During the past two decades, one such dichotomy has taken hold and, with considerable support from the academic sector of social work, has helped shape many graduate schools' curricula. This dichotomy divides all of social work into two parts, the micro and the macro. Most schools chose a less disruptive compromise. They modified their process curricula, combining casework and group work into one concentration, called micro, and assigned the other processes to a concentration called macro.
