SSW Family Systems 3

Question 1

Which concept from strategic family therapy refers to a therapist assigning a symptom as a deliberate task to reduce resistance?

Accepted Answer

Paradoxical directive

Answer

A paradoxical directive prescribes the symptom or resistance, which can disrupt the family's pattern and create change through the resulting reaction.

Question 2

A school social worker observes that whenever a child acts out, the parents stop fighting and unite to address the child. This pattern illustrates:

Accepted Answer

Homeostasis maintained through the child's behavior

Answer

The child's acting out maintains family homeostasis by redirecting parental conflict, a common function of the identified patient in family systems.

Question 3

In contextual family therapy (Boszormenyi-Nagy), 'relational ethics' centers on which concept?

Accepted Answer

Fair balance of give and take (ledger of entitlements and obligations) across generations

Answer

Contextual therapy emphasizes the relational ledger — the sense of fairness, trust, and reciprocal obligation between family members across generations.

Question 4

A school social worker is meeting with a single-mother family where grandparents frequently override the mother's parenting decisions. This reflects a problem with:

Accepted Answer

Hierarchical boundaries and executive subsystem clarity

Answer

When grandparents undermine the parent, the parental subsystem's authority (executive hierarchy) is compromised, causing structural dysfunction.

Question 5

Which term describes a family's tendency to resist change and return to its previous patterns of functioning?

Accepted Answer

Homeostasis

Answer

Homeostasis refers to the family system's tendency to maintain stability and resist change, even when the existing pattern is dysfunctional.

(SSW) School Social Worker Practice Test

(SSW) School Social Worker Practice Test

SSW Family Systems 3