Macro Practice in Social Work for the 21st Century: Bridging the Macro-Micro Divide

by Steve Burghardt

Macro Practice in Social Work for the 21st Century, Second Edition offers a modern approach to building effective career skills in macro practice. Author Steve Burghardt inspires students by tracing the careers of macro-practitioners from grass roots organizers to agency executives. By focusing on how practitioners can make meaningful, strategic choices regardless of their formal roles and responsibilities, this Second Edition takes a refreshing new approach on the key issues of how to respond to diversity and oppression, the use of the internet for organization, the limits of "virtual trust," understanding where "micro" and "macro" meet in practice, and co-leadership development.

Genres: Social Work

512 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2010

Reviews

[Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a required textbook as part of my Master of Social Work coursework ("Social Work Practice in Communities & Groups).

Unfortunately, I was not impressed by this text. While Burghardt's points and messages are valuable, they are sandwiched between so many anecdotes and flowery language that the book became 95% prose and 5% content. In addition, the book describes itself as macro practice for the modern era, however, in 2025, the analogies and examples used were already obsolete.