ASWB Licensed Clinical Social Worker 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the NASW Code of Ethics, what is a social worker's primary ethical obligation?
- Loyalty to the employing organization
- Service to clients and promotion of social justice (Correct answer)
- Compliance with state licensing requirements
- Maintaining professional boundaries with colleagues
Correct answer: Service to clients and promotion of social justice
The NASW Code of Ethics identifies service, social justice, dignity, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence as core values, with service as primary.
Question 2: A client on a psychiatric unit refuses medication. The treatment team wants to override the refusal. What principle does the social worker most need to advocate for?
- Beneficence
- Nonmaleficence
- Client autonomy and self-determination (Correct answer)
- Justice
Correct answer: Client autonomy and self-determination
Competent adults have the right to refuse treatment; the social worker's role includes advocating for the client's right to informed consent and self-determination.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes the biopsychosocial model used in clinical social work assessment?
- A model focusing exclusively on psychiatric diagnosis and medication management
- An integrated framework examining biological, psychological, and social factors influencing a client's functioning (Correct answer)
- A strengths-based approach that ignores pathology
- A behavioral model addressing only observable symptoms
Correct answer: An integrated framework examining biological, psychological, and social factors influencing a client's functioning
The biopsychosocial model, foundational to social work assessment, considers the interplay of biological vulnerabilities, psychological factors, and social/environmental context.
Question 4: A 15-year-old client discloses consensual sexual activity with a 16-year-old peer. What is the social worker's most appropriate response?
- File a mandated report for statutory rape
- Explore the client's experience, assess for safety, and provide age-appropriate psychoeducation (Correct answer)
- Notify the parents immediately
- Terminate treatment due to the sensitive nature of the disclosure
Correct answer: Explore the client's experience, assess for safety, and provide age-appropriate psychoeducation
Most states' age-of-consent laws and statutory rape definitions would not apply to peers of similar age; the appropriate response is assessment and education.
Question 5: Which stage of Prochaska and DiClemente's Transtheoretical Model describes a client who acknowledges a problem but is not yet committed to change?
- Precontemplation
- Contemplation (Correct answer)
- Preparation
- Action
Correct answer: Contemplation
In contemplation, individuals are aware of their problem and ambivalent about changing but have not yet committed to a specific action plan.
Question 6: A social worker in private practice sees a client who is also a neighbor. After careful consideration, this arrangement is best described as:
- An acceptable dual relationship if disclosed and documented
- A prohibited dual relationship that should be avoided (Correct answer)
- Permissible only with supervisor approval
- Allowed because the relationship predates treatment
Correct answer: A prohibited dual relationship that should be avoided
NASW ethics and LCSW standards advise against dual relationships that could impair judgment or exploit the client, including neighbor-client situations.
Question 7: When using Motivational Interviewing, which technique involves reflecting back an amplified version of what the client said to evoke change talk?
- Simple reflection
- Amplified reflection (Correct answer)
- Double-sided reflection
- Reframing
Correct answer: Amplified reflection
An amplified reflection overstates the client's position to prompt them to argue against it, naturally eliciting change talk.
ASWB Licensed Clinical Social Worker 3
Under the NASW Code of Ethics, what is a social worker's primary ethical obligation?