ASWB Masters Trivia 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes 'structural family therapy' as developed by Salvador Minuchin?
- Exploring multigenerational family patterns through genograms
- Restructuring dysfunctional family hierarchies and boundaries (Correct answer)
- Using narrative techniques to re-author the family's story
- Focusing on circular communication patterns and cybernetics
Correct answer: Restructuring dysfunctional family hierarchies and boundaries
Minuchin's structural family therapy targets family organization, including subsystems, hierarchies, and boundaries, to alleviate symptomatic behavior.
Question 2: A social worker uses 'reframing' during a session. This technique is BEST described as:
- Challenging a client's irrational beliefs directly
- Offering an alternative perspective on a situation to change its meaning (Correct answer)
- Summarizing session content to build a shared understanding
- Assigning behavioral experiments between sessions
Correct answer: Offering an alternative perspective on a situation to change its meaning
Reframing changes the conceptual or emotional context of a situation so the client can perceive it differently, opening new possibilities for response.
Question 3: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), social service agencies are required to provide 'reasonable accommodations.' This means:
- Eliminating all barriers regardless of cost or feasibility
- Making modifications that do not cause undue hardship to the organization (Correct answer)
- Replacing existing staff with specialized disability advocates
- Providing full time personal aides to all clients with disabilities
Correct answer: Making modifications that do not cause undue hardship to the organization
The ADA requires reasonable accommodations that do not impose an undue hardship (significant difficulty or expense) on the organization.
Question 4: Which practice model emphasizes identifying and building on existing client strengths rather than focusing on deficits?
- Psychosocial model
- Task-centered model
- Strengths-based perspective (Correct answer)
- Problem-solving model
Correct answer: Strengths-based perspective
The strengths-based perspective, associated with Dennis Saleebey, focuses on clients' assets, capacities, and resources rather than pathology.
Question 5: A social worker who accepts expensive gifts from grateful clients is violating which ethical principle?
- Fidelity
- Social justice
- Boundary maintenance and conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Informed consent
Correct answer: Boundary maintenance and conflict of interest
Accepting significant gifts creates a conflict of interest and blurs professional boundaries, violating NASW standards on dual relationships and conflicts of interest.
Question 6: In group therapy, the 'norming' phase described by Tuckman is characterized by:
- High conflict and competition among members
- Members leaving and being replaced by new participants
- Development of cohesion, shared norms, and collaborative behavior (Correct answer)
- Termination rituals and evaluation of group outcomes
Correct answer: Development of cohesion, shared norms, and collaborative behavior
In Tuckman's forming-storming-norming-performing model, the norming stage features growing trust, established group norms, and emerging cohesion.
Question 7: Which of the following is a hallmark feature of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) per DSM-5?
- Persistent auditory hallucinations lasting more than six months
- Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment (Correct answer)
- Grandiosity and inflated sense of self-importance
- Restricted affect and preference for solitary activities
Correct answer: Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
Frantic efforts to avoid abandonment—real or imagined—is one of the nine defining DSM-5 criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder.
ASWB Masters Trivia 5
Which of the following best describes 'structural family therapy' as developed by Salvador Minuchin?