The Cowboy (short film)
Objective: This assignment counts towards your grade. It is important for us to be able to identify concepts that we learn in our course, in real life. As we learn about social work we learn to see the world through a social work perspective, particularly through micro, mezzo and macro lenses.
This short film is powerful because it portrays the view of someone seeing the US for the first time from their perspective. Little America describes the story of a Nigerian immigrant, who finds a connection with the Cowboy culture in Oklahoma.
1. Watch Short Film:
- Click play icon in box below to view film
- Runs for about 32 min
2. Reflect
Reflect on all the social work concepts, theories and values you have learned up until now. Through our professional training, social workers make a commitment to empower individuals and at the same time improve society while paying special attention between interactions amongst individuals and their surroundings (recall the person-in-environmentapproach). Use introspection to reflect on the type of social work you would like to practice or eventually specialize in: micro, mezzo and/or macro:
Micro practice refers mostly to helping individuals fit better into their environments.
Macro practice refers to modifying the environment so that it works better for individuals. In other words, social workers make a commitment through professional training to help people and to improve society, and to give special attention to the interactions between people and between people and their surroundings.
Mezzo Practice refers to work with families and small groups perhaps in a community setting. Many times mezzo practices is not specifically highlighted since it is sometimes subsumed under micro practice.
1. Analyze and Connect
Answer the following by making connections from the film (minimum 500 words for full credit).
(total 100 points)
- Choose a practice level that interests you: micro, mezzo or macro, define it (in your own words) make sure you bold the practice type you choose. (20 points)
- Apply: Use Iwegbuna as a case study. How would you use the practice type you chose (above) to support your client?
- This is a critical question: Make sure you identify the What (micro, mezzo, macro – what support are you offering and at what level) and the how (how are you implementing this support)...(30 points)
- Theory: Choose a theory from Module 2 (Strengths perspective, Empowerment, Person-In-Environment Approach, etc…) define theory (bold theory of choice) and define it. (20 points)
- Overall flow and structure of reflection. For example, how you connect your professional, educational experience (what you have learned in class) with Iwegbuna’s life story, observation skills, congruence. (10 points) – don’t worry too much about grammar this is not an English class 😉
- Overall thoughts about the movie (any recommendations for other documentaries pertaining to social work)? (10 points)
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