Mixed Deck — All MSW Topics Flashcards

In Roberts' Seven-Stage Crisis Intervention Model, what is the FIRST step a social worker should complete when working with a client in acute crisis?

Answer: Assess lethality and immediate safety needs

Roberts' model begins with a thorough assessment of lethality, dangerousness, and immediate safety because the worker must determine the level of risk before any other therapeutic work can proceed.

A macro-level social worker is advocating for policy change to expand Medicaid coverage in their state. Which advocacy strategy involves mobilizing constituents to contact their elected officials?

Answer: Grassroots lobbying

Grassroots lobbying involves mobilizing community members and constituents to directly contact legislators and advocate for specific policy changes.

A social worker is assessing a client who describes a persistent low mood, poor appetite, low energy, and feelings of hopelessness that have lasted for about three years. The client states, 'I've just never been a very happy person.' The symptoms are present more days than not but do not meet the full criteria for a major depressive episode. According to the DSM-5-TR, which diagnosis is the MOST likely?

Answer: Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia)

Persistent Depressive Disorder (formerly Dysthymia) is characterized by a chronic depressed mood that occurs for most of the day, for more days than not, for at least two years in adults. The client's long-term, less severe but persistent symptoms align with the diagnostic criteria for this disorder. Major Depressive Disorder involves more severe, discrete episodes, and Adjustment Disorder is a response to a specific stressor within the last three months.

A social worker is starting services with a new client. Which of the following is the MOST comprehensive description of the informed consent process?

Answer: An ongoing dialogue where the social worker and client discuss the nature of services, risks, limits to confidentiality, costs, and the right to refuse or withdraw consent.

Informed consent, as outlined in the NASW Code of Ethics (1.03), is not a single event but an ongoing process. It requires a thorough discussion in clear, understandable language about all aspects of treatment, including purpose, risks, limits, costs, and alternatives, and it must include the client's right to refuse or withdraw. It's a continuous dialogue that ensures the client remains a voluntary and informed participant in their care.

A social worker is conducting a biopsychosocial assessment for a client experiencing homelessness. Which component should be prioritized first to ensure immediate safety?

Answer: Assessing current medical needs and substance use

Immediate safety concerns including medical needs and active substance use must be assessed first when working with clients experiencing homelessness.

Which defense mechanism involves redirecting emotions from a threatening target to a safer substitute?

Answer: Displacement

Displacement occurs when a person shifts emotional responses from the original source of distress to a less threatening person or object.

A social worker using a strengths-based perspective would MOST likely ask which of the following questions during an initial assessment?

Answer: What skills or resources have helped you cope in the past?

The strengths-based perspective focuses on identifying existing client resources, resilience, and coping abilities rather than deficits.

A social worker notices a pattern of racial disparities in child welfare removals in their agency. Addressing this through organizational policy change is an example of:

Answer: Mezzo-level systemic advocacy

Changing organizational policy to address racial disparities is mezzo-level advocacy targeting institutional systems.

Under the NASW Code of Ethics, when is it permissible for a social worker to break client confidentiality?

Answer: When there is an imminent risk of serious harm to the client or others

Confidentiality may be broken when there is a clear and imminent danger of serious harm to the client or identifiable third parties.

The best results from habit reversal training come from patients with Tourette syndrome. It is made up of four primary parts. First, in an effort to aid the client in gaining self-control, awareness training draws attention to tics. The client then creates a counterproductive response to take the place of the incorrect behavior. Third, the client develops motivation by compiling a list of issues that the disease contributed to. What constitutes the fourth element?

Answer: Generalization

Habit reversal training (HRT) is a multi-component behavioral therapy often used for tic disorders like Tourette syndrome. The four main components are: Awareness Training, Competing Response Training, Motivation and Compliance Enhancement, and Generalization Training. Generalization involves practicing skills in various real-world settings to ensure they are maintained and applied outside of therapy sessions, which is crucial for long-term success.

A toddler clings to their caregiver before exploring a new room, periodically returning for reassurance. This behavior best illustrates:

Answer: Secure attachment using the caregiver as a safe base

Using the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore — and returning for reassurance — is the hallmark of secure attachment.

Which model of disability aligns most closely with social justice principles in social work?

Answer: The social model, which identifies societal barriers as the primary source of disability

The social model of disability focuses on removing societal barriers rather than viewing disability as an individual deficiency, aligning with social justice values.

During a family therapy session, a social worker uses reframing to help family members view a teenager's behavior differently. Reframing is classified as a technique of:

Answer: Direct practice intervention

Reframing is a direct practice therapeutic technique used during face-to-face clinical work with clients and families.

A social worker notes that a client raised in poverty has internalized beliefs of helplessness and low self-efficacy. This best illustrates which concept?

Answer: Learned helplessness

Learned helplessness occurs when repeated exposure to uncontrollable negative events leads individuals to believe their actions cannot affect outcomes.

Emilia, who is sixteen years old, resides with her boyfriend, their kid, who is six months old, and her boyfriend's friends. Emilia spends her days socializing with her pals and watching television. Since the child's birth, there hasn't been much mother-child connection. Which of the following is most likely what the baby is displaying?

Answer: Mistrust of the environment

According to Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, the first stage (Trust vs. Mistrust) occurs from birth to 18 months. Consistent, responsive caregiving builds a sense of trust in the world and caregivers. A lack of consistent mother-child connection and engagement, as described, can lead to the infant developing a sense of mistrust, feeling that their needs will not be met and the environment is unreliable.

A social work researcher reports that income significantly predicts mental health outcomes (β = 0.45, p < .001). The β coefficient indicates:

Answer: The direction and relative strength of the relationship between income and mental health in a regression model

A standardized regression coefficient (β) indicates the direction and magnitude of a predictor's relationship with the outcome, controlling for other variables.

According to Bowlby's attachment theory, which attachment style is characterized by a child who shows little distress when a caregiver leaves and avoids contact upon return?

Answer: Avoidant attachment

Avoidant attachment develops when caregivers are consistently unresponsive, leading children to suppress attachment behaviors and avoid seeking comfort.

In group work, 'scapegoating' is best described as:

Answer: The group directing hostility toward one member to avoid confronting shared group tensions

Scapegoating occurs when the group projects its collective anxiety or conflict onto a single member, making that individual the target of blame to avoid addressing deeper group issues.

When a social worker experiences strong feelings of protectiveness toward a client who reminds them of their own child, this is an example of:

Answer: Countertransference

Countertransference refers to the clinician's emotional reactions to a client, often rooted in the clinician's own unresolved experiences.

When a social worker helps a client identify concrete community resources such as food banks and housing programs, the worker is primarily functioning as a:

Answer: Broker

The broker role involves linking clients to needed community resources and services.