Assignment: Strategies for Change and Macro-Level Interventions

Child soldiers, HIV/AIDS, and education in war-torn countries are just some examples of macro-issues of global significance that are in need of macro interventions. Global psychologists intervene by implementing strategies called change strategies. The three change strategies detailed in your text are top-down, bottom-up, and middle-out. Top-down strategies are those that top-level leaders implement by directing action to those who report to them. Bottom-up strategies work from the grassroots. In bottom-up strategies, laypeople work together to create change. Middle-out strategies are implemented by mid-level leaders to influence top-level leaders as well as their public constituencies. In this Application, you review macro-issues and their macro-level interventions, identify a global issue that might benefit from the presence of a psychologist, and consider strategies that might be used to intervene in such situations.

To prepare for this Assignment:

• Identify one global issue currently in the news that might benefit from a macro-level intervention that includes a psychologist.

• Think about one bottom-up change strategy a psychologist might use to intervene and address the issue, one middle-out strategy, and one top-down strategy.

• For each strategy, consider which specific change strategy might be the most effective in addressing the issue you selected.

The Assignment (3-4 pages):

• Describe the global issue you selected.

• Determine the macro-level intervention (that includes a psychologist) that you assert will work best in this situation. Explain why you believe this intervention will work best.

• Provide examples of how a psychologist may use each of the following change strategies to address the situation:

o Bottom-up

o Middle-out

o Top-down

• Explain which change strategy or which combination of strategies you believe would be the most effective in addressing the situation and why.