SSW Family Systems 4

Question 1

Which family lifecycle stage is most relevant when a school social worker assists a family with a child transitioning to kindergarten?

Accepted Answer

Families with young children

Answer

Carter and McGoldrick's family lifecycle model identifies 'families with young children' as the stage involving tasks related to school entry and early childhood.

Question 2

A school social worker learns that a family recently immigrated and the child translates for parents in all official situations. From a family systems lens, this PRIMARILY represents:

Accepted Answer

A parentification dynamic that may create stress on the child

Answer

Language brokering places adult-level cognitive and emotional demands on the child, creating parentification stress even when it is culturally normalized.

Question 3

According to Minuchin, a family where members are overinvolved in each other's lives with diffuse boundaries is described as:

Accepted Answer

Enmeshed

Answer

Enmeshed families have boundaries that are too diffuse, with members overly involved in one another's functioning and limited individual autonomy.

Question 4

When using narrative family therapy with a school-aged child, the social worker helps the child 'externalize' the problem. This means:

Accepted Answer

Separating the problem from the child's identity so the child can address it

Answer

Externalization (White & Epston) positions the problem as separate from the person, empowering the child to see themselves as capable of confronting it.

Question 5

A school social worker is conducting a family assessment. Which indicator suggests HEALTHY family functioning?

Accepted Answer

Clear boundaries with flexibility to adapt to change

Answer

Healthy families maintain clear but permeable boundaries that allow for both structure and adaptability in response to developmental and environmental demands.

(SSW) School Social Worker Practice Test

(SSW) School Social Worker Practice Test

SSW Family Systems 4