Meso View: Reflections On Social Work Theory And Practice

In various disciplines,the controversy and discussion about the choice of research orientation and the theoretical focus have never stopped.The emphasis on the micro-level research orientation,although it can accumulate a lot of practical or empirical experience,but because of neglecting the influence of macro factors and becoming overly pursuing refinement,that any matter or individual differences,can be through experience Explained,thus resulting in "anti-theory" tendencies.While the macroscopic structural analysis can effectively compensate for the flaws in the micro-orientation to a certain degree,but also because of the constructive and non-empirical nature of the macro-level analysis itself,it often makes it look more abstract,Sometimes it ignores the individual's own specific situation,and the degree of integration with the reality is not high,making people feel difficult to fall.Under the influence of these factors,it has not only led to the existence of binary opposition between various micro and macro theories,empirical experience and theoretical construction,but also has caused contradictions between individual and social structures.Faced with this situation,many scholars represented by Merton,in order to respond to the various criticisms they have incurred,and in order to more effectively bridge the gap between the two levels of orientation,continue to explore ways of dispelling this kind of opposition.Ways and channels,hoping to find a link between the two to solve the above problem.In the course of development,the theoretical and practical models of the social work profession have gradually formed two micro-and macro-value orientations.With the development and reform of society,the contradiction between individuals and structures is increasingly prominent,and social work is also faced with similar problems:the selection of professional and micro-social work theories and practical models in the actual service and intervention process.There has been a situation where it is difficult to choose or confront each other.The existence of such barriers makes social work deviate from the professional mission of emphasizing personal responsibility by strengthening the control factors in social work and empowering service users from the collective level through gradual structural social work.The confrontation of the value orientation of social work leads to many difficulties in the development and construction of the specialty: the micro-level theory and practice methods pay too much attention to problems at the individual and family level,resulting in the over-pursue of professionalism in the process of service development and“showing skills”;In order to emphasize the scientific nature of the intervention and its own authority,it leads to professional hegemony and violates the principle of“self-determination by the client”.The emphasis on the importance of practical experience leads to the emergence of “anti-theory” tendencies;the macro-orientation is due to excessive attention to structural factors.It is easy to exclude “ethnicity” and gender from theory;because the theory is too abstract,it will also make it difficult for macro-level practitioners to deal with everyday tasks;it ignores the investigation of individuals' abilities and conditions,and will All "fling pots" give unreasonable structure or system.Therefore,how to strengthen the intrinsic links between micro and macro social work and explore new theoretical frameworks or practical models of social work so as to achieve the goal of bridging the gap between macro and micro perspectives is the essential and urgent task for social work in the future.This review,based on a review of domestic and international research related to“medium theory”,summarizes the characteristics of “Middle-level social work”,and adopts a longitudinal historical combing approach to start with the historical development process of social work as a whole and analyze Western societies.The medium-level nature of work in development and transformation contrasts the respective advantages and disadvantages of social work theories and practice models in the two micro-and macro-value orientations,and then seeks out and constructs a middle-level perspective to solve problems and contradictions.Based on this,the analysis of China's social work theory and practice in the current context of social transformation,in order to more effectively complete the localization needs how to establish this medium-term perspective.At the same time,to explore the goal of achieving social governance,the social work profession itself should be used as a connector with a strong meso-look nature from which aspects to play its own function.In the end,we discussed the controversy of the "Medical Theory" in the social work community,proposed the existing difficulties and problems,and looked ahead to the future development direction.