LSW EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. In determining the appropriateness of a client for a therapy group the most important
single factor is
A) Major events in the life history of the client.
B) Social relationships with the family.
C) Physical or intellectual strengths.
D) Attitudes toward him/herself, adaptive operations, perception of reality. - Answers -
Attitudes toward him/herself, adaptive operations, perception of reality.
2. Willard, age 13, comes from a family well known in the community for its members'
involvement with drugs and alcohol. Willard's two brothers and his mother, though
employed in marginal jobs have serious drug and alcohol problems. His father died from
cirrhosis of the liver associated with massive alcohol abuse. Willard is in school, seems
well cared for, and has been doing well, but he has recently started to cut classes. In
planning a social work intervention with Willard, the social worker will need to consider
A) How to help Willard's mother encourage him to continue to work hard.
B) How to intervene with the entire family to help them manage their substance
problems.
C) That family substance abuse is a major factor in becoming a substance abuser and
that Willard will need special help to avoid following in the family path.
D) That an abuse report should be filed - Answers -That family substance abuse is a
major factor in becoming a substance abuser and that Willard will need special help to
avoid following in the family path.
3. During a first interview, a young married woman, who has recently given birth to her
first child, complains of loss of appetite and inability to sleep. She seems somewhat
disheveled and disorganized, displays a mournful demeanor, and says she feels
unmotivated and overworked. The social worker's first activity would be to:
A) Assess the suicidal risk
B) Determine the frequency and duration symptoms
C) Record a thorough history
,D) Provide reassurance now that the client has sought treatment - Answers -Determine
the frequency and duration of symptoms
10. He's having trouble a
adjusting to his wife's death, his work responsibilities, and caring for his daughters.
These are viewed as the
A) Dynamics
B) Presenting problem
C) Diagnosis
D) Treatment Modality - Answers -Presenting problem
Communication
1. Logan is a social worker on the medical-surgical unit of a hospital. Mr. Ricci is
medically ready for discharge after his surgery for hip replacement. Medically, Mr. Ricci
would benefit from a period of rehab care before going home. However, discharge plans
are complicated by his eagerness to return home to his post-stroke wife who is
temporarily staying at their daughter's house. Logan meets with Mr. Ricci, and says:
"Dr. Manju asked me to help you with planning for your discharge and needs for after-
care. I understand you wife's care is also a pressing need, and I wondered if I might
help you think through all your options and identify resources to meet your family's
needs." This introductory statement by the social worker is a step toward
A) Clarifying the worker's role and contracting for service.
B) Summarizing.
C)Enabling.
D) Empowering. - Answers -Clarifying the worker's role and contracting for service.
2. Dina, age 13, is talking to her school social worker, Don, about being teased in
school. Dina is brought by the bus to an affluent suburb a half hour from her inner-city
neighborhood. Her family can not afford the clothes and accessories that would help her
blend in with the other girls, and Dina's mother thinks those things are "nonsense"
anyway. Don asks, "What is it like for you when your Mother says this stuff is
nonsense'?" Don's intervention is an example of
A) An open-ended question.
B) Mirroring.
,C) A closed-ended question.
D) Underlining - Answers -An open-ended question.
3. Lourdes discusses her relationship with her sister with her social worker, Michael.
Lourdes wants a more intimate relationship with her sister, but has routinely been
disappointed by her sister's superficial chatter. Lourdes tells Michael that during their
most recent visit, she found herself playing with her children and those of her sister and
spending less time trying to connect with her sister. Now Lourdes feels guilty, blaming
herself for no longer trying to deepen the relationship. Michael suggests that rather than
giving up, becoming a more active aunt may be different, potentially effective way of
gaining closeness with her sister. Michael's intervention is an example of
A) Triangulation
B) Reframing.
C) Empathy.
D) Active listening. - Answers -Reframing
4. Jolene is an African- American client with a long history of abuse. She is living in a
woman's shelter and is eager to leave it. To move to a subsidized apartment, she must
meet with a social worker from the housing authority. Jolene is polite, but slient and
avoids contact throughout the first session with the social worker. The worker is unsure
about to interpret Jolene's apparent withdrawal. How might the social worker most
effectively use the social work relationship to help this client?
A) The worker should consult with the shelter staff to clarify Jolene's motivation for
moving.
B) The worker should ask Jolene what her silence means.
C) The worker should ensure that Jolene gets her new housing as she can see that this
client cannot speak up for herself and may be overlooked.
D) The worker should empower Jolene as an active participant in meeting her housing
goals. - Answers -The worker should empower Jolene as an active participant in
meeting her housing goals.
5. Interpretation, confrontation, affirmation and clarification are
A) Strategies used by mental health professional.
B) Clinical interventions designed to help clients obtain and sustain insight.
, C) Interviewing techniques used in the early stages of taking history.
D) Never used by social workers. - Answers -Clinical interventions designed to help
clients obtain and sustain insight.
Professional Relation
1. Bill and his family seek treatment from an experienced social worker in a large city to
help them deal with martital conflicts and child-rearing difficulties. Since Bill can not
afford the worker's fees, he offers to paint her apartment as payment. This is not
common arrangement in the community but, wanting to help, the worker considers Bill's
offer. How should she ethically proceed?
A) She should refuse Bill's offer and, if she cannot arrange a more affordable fee, refer
the family to an agency that can help them.
B) She should accept Bill's offer after ascertaining that the exchange is fair and
equitable.
C) She should pay Bill for painting her apartment, allowing him to pay her for treatment.
D) She should see the family, and when the unpaid account equals the cost of painting,
she should allow him to paint her apartment. - Answers -She should refuse Bill's offer
and, if she cannot arrange a more affordable fee, refer the family to an agency that can
help them.
2. Bill W., an influential senior clinician at a large mental health center, is a member of
the selection committee assigned to recommend candidates for assistant director. The
leading candidate, an experienced and dynamic woman, has a four-month-old child. Bill
argues that the candidate's child-rearing responsiblities will interfere with her demanding
job obligations and recommends that she not be hired. The committee should
A) Accept Bill's recommendation and hire another candidate.
B) Ask her how she plans to meet her child-rearing obligations and make a
recommendation based on her responses.
C) Reject Bill's analysis on legal and ethical grounds.
D) Recommend her, with reservations, and allow the Board to work out the details. -
Answers -Reject Bill's analysis on legal and ethical grounds.
3. A social worker discovers that her female client has HIV infected and is also sexually
active. She does not inform her partners of her illness. The client maintains that she
always uses safe sex techniques and would never knowingly put anyone at risk. The
social worker is concerned that despite the client's precautions, she should notify her
1. In determining the appropriateness of a client for a therapy group the most important
single factor is
A) Major events in the life history of the client.
B) Social relationships with the family.
C) Physical or intellectual strengths.
D) Attitudes toward him/herself, adaptive operations, perception of reality. - Answers -
Attitudes toward him/herself, adaptive operations, perception of reality.
2. Willard, age 13, comes from a family well known in the community for its members'
involvement with drugs and alcohol. Willard's two brothers and his mother, though
employed in marginal jobs have serious drug and alcohol problems. His father died from
cirrhosis of the liver associated with massive alcohol abuse. Willard is in school, seems
well cared for, and has been doing well, but he has recently started to cut classes. In
planning a social work intervention with Willard, the social worker will need to consider
A) How to help Willard's mother encourage him to continue to work hard.
B) How to intervene with the entire family to help them manage their substance
problems.
C) That family substance abuse is a major factor in becoming a substance abuser and
that Willard will need special help to avoid following in the family path.
D) That an abuse report should be filed - Answers -That family substance abuse is a
major factor in becoming a substance abuser and that Willard will need special help to
avoid following in the family path.
3. During a first interview, a young married woman, who has recently given birth to her
first child, complains of loss of appetite and inability to sleep. She seems somewhat
disheveled and disorganized, displays a mournful demeanor, and says she feels
unmotivated and overworked. The social worker's first activity would be to:
A) Assess the suicidal risk
B) Determine the frequency and duration symptoms
C) Record a thorough history
,D) Provide reassurance now that the client has sought treatment - Answers -Determine
the frequency and duration of symptoms
10. He's having trouble a
adjusting to his wife's death, his work responsibilities, and caring for his daughters.
These are viewed as the
A) Dynamics
B) Presenting problem
C) Diagnosis
D) Treatment Modality - Answers -Presenting problem
Communication
1. Logan is a social worker on the medical-surgical unit of a hospital. Mr. Ricci is
medically ready for discharge after his surgery for hip replacement. Medically, Mr. Ricci
would benefit from a period of rehab care before going home. However, discharge plans
are complicated by his eagerness to return home to his post-stroke wife who is
temporarily staying at their daughter's house. Logan meets with Mr. Ricci, and says:
"Dr. Manju asked me to help you with planning for your discharge and needs for after-
care. I understand you wife's care is also a pressing need, and I wondered if I might
help you think through all your options and identify resources to meet your family's
needs." This introductory statement by the social worker is a step toward
A) Clarifying the worker's role and contracting for service.
B) Summarizing.
C)Enabling.
D) Empowering. - Answers -Clarifying the worker's role and contracting for service.
2. Dina, age 13, is talking to her school social worker, Don, about being teased in
school. Dina is brought by the bus to an affluent suburb a half hour from her inner-city
neighborhood. Her family can not afford the clothes and accessories that would help her
blend in with the other girls, and Dina's mother thinks those things are "nonsense"
anyway. Don asks, "What is it like for you when your Mother says this stuff is
nonsense'?" Don's intervention is an example of
A) An open-ended question.
B) Mirroring.
,C) A closed-ended question.
D) Underlining - Answers -An open-ended question.
3. Lourdes discusses her relationship with her sister with her social worker, Michael.
Lourdes wants a more intimate relationship with her sister, but has routinely been
disappointed by her sister's superficial chatter. Lourdes tells Michael that during their
most recent visit, she found herself playing with her children and those of her sister and
spending less time trying to connect with her sister. Now Lourdes feels guilty, blaming
herself for no longer trying to deepen the relationship. Michael suggests that rather than
giving up, becoming a more active aunt may be different, potentially effective way of
gaining closeness with her sister. Michael's intervention is an example of
A) Triangulation
B) Reframing.
C) Empathy.
D) Active listening. - Answers -Reframing
4. Jolene is an African- American client with a long history of abuse. She is living in a
woman's shelter and is eager to leave it. To move to a subsidized apartment, she must
meet with a social worker from the housing authority. Jolene is polite, but slient and
avoids contact throughout the first session with the social worker. The worker is unsure
about to interpret Jolene's apparent withdrawal. How might the social worker most
effectively use the social work relationship to help this client?
A) The worker should consult with the shelter staff to clarify Jolene's motivation for
moving.
B) The worker should ask Jolene what her silence means.
C) The worker should ensure that Jolene gets her new housing as she can see that this
client cannot speak up for herself and may be overlooked.
D) The worker should empower Jolene as an active participant in meeting her housing
goals. - Answers -The worker should empower Jolene as an active participant in
meeting her housing goals.
5. Interpretation, confrontation, affirmation and clarification are
A) Strategies used by mental health professional.
B) Clinical interventions designed to help clients obtain and sustain insight.
, C) Interviewing techniques used in the early stages of taking history.
D) Never used by social workers. - Answers -Clinical interventions designed to help
clients obtain and sustain insight.
Professional Relation
1. Bill and his family seek treatment from an experienced social worker in a large city to
help them deal with martital conflicts and child-rearing difficulties. Since Bill can not
afford the worker's fees, he offers to paint her apartment as payment. This is not
common arrangement in the community but, wanting to help, the worker considers Bill's
offer. How should she ethically proceed?
A) She should refuse Bill's offer and, if she cannot arrange a more affordable fee, refer
the family to an agency that can help them.
B) She should accept Bill's offer after ascertaining that the exchange is fair and
equitable.
C) She should pay Bill for painting her apartment, allowing him to pay her for treatment.
D) She should see the family, and when the unpaid account equals the cost of painting,
she should allow him to paint her apartment. - Answers -She should refuse Bill's offer
and, if she cannot arrange a more affordable fee, refer the family to an agency that can
help them.
2. Bill W., an influential senior clinician at a large mental health center, is a member of
the selection committee assigned to recommend candidates for assistant director. The
leading candidate, an experienced and dynamic woman, has a four-month-old child. Bill
argues that the candidate's child-rearing responsiblities will interfere with her demanding
job obligations and recommends that she not be hired. The committee should
A) Accept Bill's recommendation and hire another candidate.
B) Ask her how she plans to meet her child-rearing obligations and make a
recommendation based on her responses.
C) Reject Bill's analysis on legal and ethical grounds.
D) Recommend her, with reservations, and allow the Board to work out the details. -
Answers -Reject Bill's analysis on legal and ethical grounds.
3. A social worker discovers that her female client has HIV infected and is also sexually
active. She does not inform her partners of her illness. The client maintains that she
always uses safe sex techniques and would never knowingly put anyone at risk. The
social worker is concerned that despite the client's precautions, she should notify her
