ASWB Individual

A family seeks counseling help after the accidental death of one of their two children. The social worker's genuine concern and "over involvement" with the family is noticed by the social workers supervisor. The supervisor should

involve the social worker in assessing the effect his subjective reactions may have on the quality of his work and on his clients

How would a social worker first react to a delusional and disorganized 20 year old homeless woman who refuses to consider hospitalization.

By encouraging her to come into a walk in emergency room

A 14 year old depressed adolescent boy receiving treatment at a family agent mentions that he is actively thinking of suicide. The social worker believes the youth is serious and knows that the family is deeply concerned about him. Of the choices below, which action is required and should guide the worker's actions?

To protect the client, the worker should call the client's family, after telling him that she is required to follow this procedure for his own safety.

A client's wife calls her husbands social worker for information concerning her husband's emotional problems. The worker knows they have a close relationship and that the wife is aware that her husband is in treatment. The social worker would most likely respond by

probing her reasons for calling and asking for information

An elderly woman in her late 70s whose husband recently died has had difficulty adjusting to living alone and caring for herself. The social worker arranged for support services and suggested that her children call her more frequently. Which statement is not true of this social work intervention

Concrete helping services are usually the only intervention needed by the elderly

David, a social worker at a family service agency, has been meeting for several months with Jason, a moderately depressed man in his mid-20s. They have developed a treatment contract with specific activities and goals. The goals are designed to help Jason become less socially isolated and to take more initiative at work. David notes that Jason does not follow through on specified weekly tasks. In social work, responsibility for following through on decisions is concerning the client rests mainly with the

client

A social worker at a neighborhood cocktail party casually learns from a neighbor that he has abused his child and is not recieving help. Though not in a professional setting, the social worker should

report this incident to the authorities for further investigation

An elementary school teacher has placed a disruptive child away from all activities fora predetermined, though short, period. This is known as a

time out strategy

In clinical work with sexually abused children, an important treatment goal is to

relieve guilt

Following an initial visit to an elderly client, a social worker notifies the client that they will meet again in six weeks. The next day and for several subsequent days the client continues to call the worker. The questions seem contrived and trivial and do not concern significant or pressing issues. The worker should

ask the client if she would like to schedule an earlier visit

A client states that he is convinced the FBI is watching him and that they are trying to influence his thoughts. This is an example of

a delusion

Play therapy can be successful with children because

play is the natural expression of children

Parents in treatment at a community mental health center are seen as "enabling" a childs anti social behavior (stealing) by

not setting limits or having clear and well understood expectations

The technique least likely to be used in family therapy is

individual reflection and introspection

An example of use of self in a social work relationship would be

allowing oneself to be used as a role model

The most common hallucinations in schizophrenia are

auditory

As a rule, the different between the role of anxiety in schizophrenia and in neurosis isthat in schizophrenia

anxiety leads to disorganized thinking and poor reality teasting

One major problem for a social worker who sees both a mother and her child during weekly individual sessions is

the possible rivalry between the mother and the child in sharing the worker

An infant is assessed as low functioning. The familys social worker should help the family understand that

they can be helped to meet the childs needs and that community services are available to help them

A client is repeatedly hospitalized for vague somatic complaints, but the medical findings have been consistently negative. The patient has no insight into the emotional components of his complaints and rejects psychiatric treatment. In referring the patient to the social worker for discharge planning, the psychiatrist recommends development of a plan that will enable the patient to stay out of the hospital. The social workers most effective approach is to

help the patient identify his reality problems and help him find ways to improve his living situation in waus that will offer increased satisfaction and less stress

A social worker is treating a man whose wife recently died in an automobile accident, leaving him with the care of two very young children. His occupation is very demanding and he is struggling to succeed in ahigh pressure job while managing his parenting responsibilities. Which of the following would probably not be a part of the treatment approach?

reassurance - assuring the client that things will get better

According to Don D. Jackson and his associates, a pattern of pairs or sets of messages that are at different levels, but closely related and sharply incongruent, can occur with other messages that diminish the awareness of the incongruence and its effective handling. This describes his theory of

the double bind

One goal in treating a person diagnosed with a personality disorder is to

make the ego syntonic trait ego alien

In working with a client exhibiting an intellectual disability (formerly referred to as mental retardation in the DSM IVTR) the principle of social work that might be relaxed is

self determination

A social worker has been seeing a client for six months at weekly sessions. During the last four sessions, the client has complained of a severe headache. The social worker should

refer the client to a neurologist

John is considered the identified patient. In family treatment, the identified patient refers to the family member

whose symptoms reflect the familys pain

Of the following, the author who would consider John's behavior to manifest a problem in the family system is

Minuchin

Using a systems perspective, a clinician might argue that John's difficulties

show that his needs ar enot being met

In the functional model of social work, the emphasis is on the

agency and its services

The wife's death is viewed as

a precipitory stress

He is having trouble adjusting to his wife's death, work responsibilities, and caring for his daughters. These are viewed as the

presenting problem

A clients stated purpose is to revieve help in adapting to a problematic situation rather than engaging in a personal change process. The social worker approach would focus upon

helping him to respond to environmental and reality issues objectively

How can a social worker initially approach Mr. C. to engage him in treatment?

encourage interaction with the social worker and provide opportunities for him to ventilate

It is difficult to predict how a worker might react. However, working with a passive, depressed client like Mr. C would most likely induce which of the following counter transference reactions in the social worker?

Frustration, leading to annoyance

In a social worker setting, a researcher would describe the interchange between the social worker and the client as

throughput

The immediate problem for the client seems to be

depression

The first thing the worker should do

discuss his feelings about his partners illness and the possibility of his dying

A boy of 16, arthritic from early childhood, has been under the care of a special clinic in a hospital outpatient department. He is well know to the social worker in this clinic. One of his needs, as the social worker sees it, is more varied social contact with peers. This is difficult for him because he can only pursue limited physical activities. His widowed mother is over protective. The boy has shown an interest in music. The social worker might suggest that he go to

a community center with music classes.

A social worker doing joint or multiple interviewing will focus on

the interaction

A mother tells her social worker at the mental health clinic that her five year old son suddenly started to wet the bed, suck his thumb, and cling to her skirt. She reveals that her husband was recently admitted to an in patient mental health center in patient unit. To manage financially, she moved in with her parents. Her elderly parents show little understanding of the child and scold him when he is noisy or gets his clothes dirty. The childs behavior may be explained by the fact that

during periods of stress and dissatisfaction, children tend to regress to earlier behavior associated with a different developmental phase

A physician refers a 35 year old married female to a social worker. Over the years, the client has complained of many physical ailments, but no medical cause can be found.The physician believes these complaints are related to her marital difficulties. The woman's husband is an alcholic who assaulted her on several occasions in front of their two children. In addition, the family lives with the husband's parents who are hostile and emotionally disturbed. The physician asks a social worker for assistance in this case. The social worker would

work with the physician to refer the mother to a battered woman's program and to call child protective services

A 14 year old boy stops attending school and stays home. The social worker has ruled out a school phobia, trauma, etc. as a reason. The social worker should `

encourage his parents and the school to urge the child to go back to school as quickly as possible and explore the reasons for his resistance

A new client expresses anger about the conditions under which he feels he is living. The social worker would

communicate acceptance and understanding of the client

A social worker is shortly leaving an agency and must terminate many cases. How long prior to exiting should the social worker tell clients she is leaving the agency

About one month before the termination date

A social worker supervises an outreach staff of homemakers serving mothers in a section of the city populated largely by recent immigrants from Latin America. Due to decreases in the Food Stamp Program, the staff must recommend less expensive, though equally nutiritious food substitutes that are unfamiliar to the families. The approach that might best effect a change in the community is to

small discussion groups arranged by women of the neighborhood with demonstartions of how to prepare the new foods

The basic different between a social worker and a psychiatrist

social workers primarily use verbal metods and interpersonal relationships to modify attitudes and behaviors

The initial task of the family social worker is to

get in touch with the feelinglevel of the family and establish empathetic rapport

An intake worker in adolescent shelter is assigned a 14 year old girl who has run away from her family. She does not wish them to know her whereabouts. WHen asked about her reasons for leaving home, she says that she has problems with her father, but does not wish to volunteer any additional information. The worker would first

encourage and sanction the discussion of taboo or unpleasant subjects

Joan and Ed have a mutually satisfying marriage despite their obvious personality differences. Joan is outgoing and funny and enjoys being the center of attention where Ed is quiet and an appreciative listener. According to structural family therapy, this positive "fit" between them is seen as

complementarity

What is the technique in social work that focuses on helping clients decide on the issues they wish to address from among many issues that bother them?

partializing the problem

The social work method that is least like the others is

preventative social work

The role that a child care worker usually does not fill in residential treatment is

life space interviewer

A four-year-old brother is ready for discharge from a hospital where he has spent three months for treatment of meningitis. His activities will be very limited for many months to come. He must remain in bed for part of the day and receive daily injections. The mother, who has a new baby and three other young children to care for, could learn to administer the shots but will have little time for the patient otherwise. In preparing a discharge plan, the hospital social worker might

arrange for a visiting nurse to administer the injections, at least until the mother has reestablished a relationship with the patient and he has adjusted to the new situation

Maximum realization of each individuals potential for development throughout his lifetime upholds a social work

value

A child has a violent tantrum in the dining room of a residential treatment center that emphasizes milieu therapy. The social worker is called by child care staff and asked to help in managing the child's behavior. The social worker would most likely

go to the dining hall and calm the child

The Jones family is composed of a mother, a live in boyfriend, and seven children. The family recieves public assistance. Mrs. Jones is depressed and complains of losing control of the children. There is continous fighting among them. According to Minuchin's model, the most helpful intervention would be

first working with the family's natural subgroupings, then changing the subgroups and actively manipulating them in relation to the whole family group

In a family therapy session the major focus for intervention is

the here and now of family interaction

The technique most likely to be used in family therapy by the social worker is

reflection of family interactions

When a client recalls a previously forgotten painful experience, the emotional release that results is called

catharsis

The primary goal of the problem solving model is to

help the client cope effectively with social tasks and relationships

The Family Court refers Mr. and Mrs. Williams to a service agency. During the initial interviews they are angry, have poor reality testing, and difficulty restraining themselves from acting out. Their projections are easily accessible, but Mr. Williams exhibits disorganized thinking. The most appropriate Recommendations for the social worker is to

refer them to a psychiatric clinic for possible medication and long term therapy

The clients transference reactions usually relate to

the tendency to distort present perceptions due to transferred inferences from past primary experiences

A client wants to leave his wife but also wants to stay with her. This is an example of

ambivalence

A young married woman is admitted to a city hospital in acute cardiac decompensation. While there, she writes a letter to the medical social worker in a voluntary hospital where she was previously treated and asks for a transfer to the facility. The worker receiving the letter should

obtain the clients permission to contact the social worker in the city hospital and ask him or her to see the client

A social worker who uses behavioral techniques would be least interested in

a social work contract

A criterion that is not a measure of a clients motivation is

ego strength

A basic assumption of crisis intervention is that

a minimum of therapeutic effort may have maximal therapeutic effect

The expansion in the use of short term psychotherapeutic strategies is the most associated with

development of health maintenance organizations

A young single man with a serious stomach ulcer asks the social workers advice about renting an apartment so that he can live away from his family and be more independent. The worker should

talk with the patient more specifically about his plans

In the initial phase of treatment, the primary social work task is to

understand why the client is seeking help

The withdrawn child in a residential treatment setting has progressed somewhat with a play therapy approach, but now seems disinterested. The social worker should

evaluate the treatment situation in supervision

The most important consideration in choosing a goal with a client is

what the client wants

Mrs. Ross is interviewed by a medical social worker after her 15 month old baby was hospitalized in a diabetic coma. Mrs. Ross was depressed and in a panic, and says she suffers from sleeplessness, weight loss, and a skin disorder. The prospect of continuing to care for her diabetic child distresses her. She focuses on her need for help as she feels she is a nervous and upset woman. The social worker might

shift the focus to help her learn and feel comfortable with the management of a diabetic child

The mother of a new baby with spina bifida is anxious about caring for the baby after returning home. The baby requires ongoing intensive care and complicated treatment and specialized care from a vareity of service systems. What is the least effective immediate strategy for helping the mother and the family?

inform the parents of the severe difficulties they are likely to encounter

A client in a state of crisis is most likely to display

preoccupation with the precipitating stress

The social worker can expect that this teenager will enter this relationship with

resistance

Gang membership does not offer him

skills and motivation to improve his life

In working with the teenager (15y/o involved with a gang), the social worker should consider a plan that uses

an ecological systems approach

The Robinson family includes a 13 year old eneuretic child. Both parents present themselves as sincere and genuinely concerned. According to Haley, in order for change to occur, the major factor necessary is

the social workers intervention in the system

A school social worker recieves a referral of a child who is disruptive in class, does not follow instructions or finish assignments, talks to his classmates, and frequently leaves his seat. The social worker should first ocnsider that the child may be

learning disordered

Social workers have attempted to describe the signifcance of transference reactions for social work treatment. The importance of this phenomenon is most accurately reflected in considering that transference feelings

tend to reveal responses that derive from a combination of historic and realistic considerations in relatively normal people

On the surface, Don and Mary have had a conflict free marrriage in which Don is absorbed b his work and hobbies, and Mary is wrapped up in raising their children. The couple has not seemed troubled by the lack of intimacy in their day to day life. A crisis occurs when Mary discovers that Don has had a three year affair with a woman from his office. In systems theory, the affair could be regarded as a solution to managing the couple's unexpressed problem with closeness and distance. This is called

triangulation

A client who grew up caring fora depressed single mother feels excessively responsible for the happiness and comfort of everyone she encournters, her close family as well as strangers, and disregards her own feelings. When the therapist tells here that he will be on vacation for three weeks, the client looks crestfallen, but only verbalizes how delighted she is that the therapist will have a well deserved break. The therapist says "I appreciate your well wishes, but I also noticed you looked down for just a moment. Perhaps you are putting my happiness ahead of your own needs, as you learned to do very early in your life". This intervention is called

interpretation of the transference

A recently widowed mother with three young children reports to her family worker that she is about to exhaust her savings. She fears eviction from her home, but knows that the eviction process takes at least three to six months in her state. Though she has not worked since her marriage eight years ago, she has some marketable skills. The social workers best procedure would be to

ask her about the solutions that she has consdiered, including the possibility of work or work training and of applying for public assistance, then suggest the next steps

A middle aged Native American man is a resident in a long term facility. The social worker who is not a Native American observes that the staff has difficulty communicating with the resident. His records show a diagnosis of dementia. The social worker feels that dementia is a misdiagnosis. To assess the situation adequately, the social worker should

consult Native American professional resources

In its literature, the functional model of social work refers least to

historical data

When a client is especially receptive to a social workers interventions and highly positive results seem to occur in a briaf period, the client may be

experiencing an acute state of crisis

In a first interview with a battered woman who wants to leave a violent husband, a social worker should be most aware

that the woman may be in great danger, as men who batter are often enraged b womens efforts to seek outside help

In counseling battered women, the social worker should keep in mind that battered women

believe that they can stop the violence by learning new techniques to control the behavior of their mates

Since Norma has identified family violence, the interventions a social worker could immediately provide would include all but

pointing out her tendency to seek out relationships with aggressive, assaultive men becuase it gives her satisfaction to suffer

Had Norma been referred to the social service unit from the hospital emergency room without identifying violence as a problem, the social worker might proceed wti hall of the following interventions except

advocating that she and her children should leave the household immediately with police protection if necessary

A single man aged thirty comes to an outpatient medical clinic for a physical check up to decide whether he can work. He has a shattered index finger on his left hand because of an injury. The surgeon recommends an operation on the damaged finger and refers him to the social services for help in planning for the operation. The social workers first step in dealing with the patient is to

establish a relationship with the patient to find out what surgery means to him

In a beginning interview with a client, the purpose of asking questions is to

obtain information about the presenting problem

Ancillary services are services that a social work regards as

supportive of social work services

Mrs. Jones and her 15 year old daughter jane have come to a community mental health clinic for counseling. The mother complains that Jane is secretive and evasive, refusing to share information about her activities. Further evaluation reveals that this is an enmeshed family. As a therapeutic goal Minuchin would probably recommend

strengthening the subsystem boundaries between the mother and the daughter to facilitate the individuality of both

An infant showing drug withdrawal symptoms at birth is ready for foster care placement following medical treatment and court action. To prepare the prospective foster parents, the social worker should

inform them of the infants drug background and the treatments provided and answer any questions about the medical issues the child may present

In behavioral treatment, the use of relaxation methods in the presence of anxiety producing stimuli would be a characteristic of a therapist using

systematic desensitization

When preparing to tell his clients that he is terminating employment with the social agency, a social worker first needs to

be aware of his own feelings about leaving the agency

multiple family therapy is

group therapy with multiple families

In treatment of alcoholism a social workers standard approach would not be to

develop ways for the client to drink moderately

A social worker in a mental health agency is treating a 50 year old acutely depressed married woman. After several weeks of medication prescribed by the psychiatrist and continued therapy, the acute symptoms have subsided. The woman wants to terminate therapy and asks about closing her case. The social workers most appropriate response is

to continue treatement

A 33 year old lawyer is convinced his promotion was refused because two senior associates dislike him. He was told he needs further experience, but that the firm would like to consider him for promotion in six months. He tells his social worker that he knows they turned him down because he is too aggressive and that they will deny his promotion again. The workers best response is

You may be right, but they offered to reconsider you

While terminating a client, a social worker decides that renegotiating the contract to continue treatment would be useful. The least likely reason is

several presenting problems have arisen

A fifteen year old girl is referred to a clinic by her school guidance counselor for depression. She is argumentative with her parents and has behavioral problems in school. The clinic intake worker is most likely to recommend

short term therapy

In a first session, a family therapist is least interested in understanding

dates and figures

In working with a depressed patient whose wife and mother brought him to the psychiatric emergency room, a hospital social worker is most likely to

work with the patients family

In working with a very depressed patient, a social workers main concern in a first interview is

determining suicidal intent

An aggressive and angry client on an acute inpatient unit is jealous and enraged because his girlfriend abruptly ended their relationship before his hospitalization. He blames her for leading him on and then rejecting him. He twice informs his socia lworker that he will get even and will "hurt her" and teach her a lesson. The social worker fears that the client may physically attcak the former girlfriend. His release from the unit to the community is imminent. The social worker should

notify the police and warn the intended victim that the client has made threats agaisnt her and is about to be released from the unit

A social worker is treating an acting out adolescent who is normally very verbal. In response to a question, the client states "my mind is blank". The workers best response is

thats unusual for you, i wonder why you're blank now

A social worker has begun work with a new client. In the first session the client tells the worker that she had a bad experience with a previous worker. She felt betrayed becuase the social worker revealed information to her husband without her knowledge. The worker should first

ask the client to tell her more about what had happened with the other social worker

A social worker who explains enuresis as a failure to acquire or maintain appropriate learned behavior of bladder control is most likely to use a treatment using

behavioral methods

A social worker in a child welfare agency is conducting an initial interview with a 16 year old pregnant teenager referred by a school counselor. The girl describes a family hsitory in which she was often a pawn in a hostile, stormy parental relationship. Her mother is dependent on her, and her father is seductive. The client asks if the agency can arrange adoption for her baby. The workers best response is to

describe the agencys adoption services

A 14 year old with a severe eating disorder who is seriously underwieght and malnourished is referred to a social worker. The parents are appropriately concerned. In the initial interview, the worker must insure that the client

is recieving ongoing medical supervision

Following the death of his father, an 18 year old complains of an occasional loss of sensation in his left hand. He wears the same size clothes as his deceased father and has inherited part of his fathers wardrobe. The symptoms seem to worsen whenever he wears his fathers overcoat. The youth appears to have no control over his symtpoms. A social worker might consider a diagnoses of

somatic symtpom and related disorder