LMSW LMSW Professional Values and Ethics Questions and Answers 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker discovers that a colleague is billing Medicaid for sessions that never occurred. What is the MOST appropriate first step?
- Confront the colleague privately and give them a chance to self-report (Correct answer)
- Report the behavior directly to the state licensing board
- Ignore it to avoid workplace conflict
- Inform the client whose name is being used
Correct answer: Confront the colleague privately and give them a chance to self-report
NASW Code of Ethics encourages addressing colleague misconduct through direct communication first, before escalating to formal channels.
Question 2: Which ethical principle is MOST at stake when a social worker avoids imposing personal religious values on a client's reproductive decisions?
- Confidentiality
- Self-determination (Correct answer)
- Beneficence
- Justice
Correct answer: Self-determination
Self-determination respects the client's right to make their own choices free from the worker's personal or religious values.
Question 3: A client threatens to harm a specific, identifiable person. Under the Tarasoff duty-to-protect standard, the social worker MUST:
- Only document the threat in the clinical record
- Warn the potential victim and notify law enforcement (Correct answer)
- Refer the client to a psychiatrist and take no further action
- Maintain confidentiality because the threat has not yet occurred
Correct answer: Warn the potential victim and notify law enforcement
The Tarasoff ruling established that clinicians have a legal duty to warn identifiable third parties when a client poses a credible, specific threat.
Question 4: A newly licensed social worker is asked by her supervisor to provide therapy services she has not been trained in. The ethical response is to:
- Comply to avoid conflict with the supervisor
- Decline and explain she lacks competence in that area (Correct answer)
- Attempt the service and seek supervision after
- Refer the client without explanation
Correct answer: Decline and explain she lacks competence in that area
NASW Code of Ethics requires social workers to practice only within the boundaries of their competence.
Question 5: When a social worker accepts a small gift from a grateful client at the end of treatment, the PRIMARY ethical concern is:
- Tax reporting obligations
- Boundary violations and exploitation of the professional relationship (Correct answer)
- Violating agency gift policies
- Creating a dual relationship with the client's family
Correct answer: Boundary violations and exploitation of the professional relationship
Accepting gifts, even small ones, can compromise professional boundaries and exploit the power differential inherent in the therapeutic relationship.
Question 6: A social worker in private practice wants to terminate services with a client who has repeatedly missed appointments. Which action is ethically required?
- End services immediately without notice
- Provide adequate notice and referrals to ensure continuity of care (Correct answer)
- Bill the client for missed sessions then terminate
- Transfer all records to the next provider without client consent
Correct answer: Provide adequate notice and referrals to ensure continuity of care
Ethical termination requires appropriate notice and referrals to prevent client abandonment and ensure continuity of care.
Question 7: Which scenario BEST illustrates a conflict of interest for a social worker?
- Providing services to a client from a different cultural background
- Treating a close friend's spouse as a clinical client (Correct answer)
- Using evidence-based practices not personally preferred
- Disagreeing with a client's financial decisions
Correct answer: Treating a close friend's spouse as a clinical client
Treating a close friend's spouse creates a dual relationship that impairs objectivity and constitutes a conflict of interest.
LMSW LMSW Professional Values and Ethics Questions and Answers 3
A social worker discovers that a colleague is billing Medicaid for sessions that never occurred.
What is the MOST appropriate first step?