ASWB social work Exam Questions and Answers Fully Solved
Systems Theory - Answers Views human behavior through larger contexts, such as members of families,
communities, and broader society.
When one thing changes within a system, the whole system is affected
Systems tend toward equilibrium and can have closed or open boundaries
Social workers need to understand interactions between the micro, meso, and macro levels
Ecomaps and genograms can help to understand system dynamics
Understanding "person-in-environment" is essential to identifying barriers or opportunities for chnage
Closed System - Answers uses up its energy and dies
Differentiation - Answers becoming specialized in structure and function
the more a client can be an individual while in emotional contact with the family. Allows a client to think
through a situation without being drawn to act by either internal or external emotional pressures
Entropy - Answers closed, disorganized, stagnant; using up available energy
Equifinality - Answers arriving at the same end from different beginnings
Homeostasis - Answers steady state
Input - Answers obtaining resources from the environment that are necessary to attain the goals of the
system
Negative entropy - Answers exchange of energy and resources between systems that promote growth
and transformation
Open system - Answers a system with cross-boundary exchange
Output - Answers a product of the system that exports to the environment
,Subsystem - Answers a major component of a system made up of two or more interdependent
components that interact in order to attain their own purpose(s) and the purpose(s) of the system in
which they are embedded
Suprasystem - Answers an entity that is served by a number of component systems organized in
interacting relationships
Throughput - Answers energy that is integrated into the system so it can be used by the system to
accomplish its goals
Family Theories - Answers a family systems approach argues that in order to understand a family
system, a social worker must look at the family as a whole, rather than focusing on its members
it is useful in understanding and managing individual problems by determining the extent to which such
problems are related to family issues
Equifianlity - Answers the ability of the family system to accomplish the same goals through different
routes
Interdependence - Answers individual family members and the subsystems comprised by the family
system are mutually influenced by and are mutually dependent upon one another. What happens to
one family member, or what one family member does, influences other family members
Genograms - Answers diagrams of family relationships beyond a family tree allowing a social worker and
client to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors
Family Therapy Approaches - Answers establish a contract with the family, examine alliances within the
family, identify where power resides, determine the relationship of each family member to the problem,
see how the family relates to the outside world, assess influence of family history on current family
interactions, ascertain communication patterns, identify family rules that regulate patterns of
interaction, determine meaning of presenting symptom in maintaining family homeostasis, examine
flexibility of structure and accessibility of alternative action patterns, find out about sources of external
stress and support
Strategic Family Therapy - Answers the social worker initiated what happens during therapy, designs a
specific approach for each person's presenting problem, and takes responsibility for directly influencing
people
Built on the communication theory
is active, brief, directive, and task-centered
,more interested in creating change in behavior than change in understanding
based on the assumption that families are flexible enough to modify solutions that do not work and
adjust or develop
assumption that all problems have multiple origins
therapy focuses on problem resolution by altering the feedback cycle or loop that maintains the
symptomatic behavior
social worker's task is to formulate the problem in solvable, behavioral terms and to design an
intervention plan to change the dysfunctional family pattern
Pretend techcnique - Answers encourage family members to "pretend" and encourage voluntary control
of behavior
First-order changes - Answers superficial behavioral changes within a system that do not change the
structure of the system
Second-order changes - Answers changes to the systematic interaction pattern so the system is
reorganized and functions more effectively
Family homeostasis - Answers families tend to preserve familiar organization and communication
patterns; resistant to change
Relabeling - Answers Changing the label attached to a person or problem from negative to positive so
the situation can be perceived different; it is hoped that new responses will evolve
Paradoxical directive or instruction - Answers prescribe the symptomatic behavior so a client realizes he
or she can control it; uses the strength of the resistance to change in order to move the client toward
goals
Structural Family Therapy - Answers this approach stresses the importance of family organization for the
functioning of the group and the well-being of its members
a social worker "joins" the family in an effort to restructure it
, defined as the invisible set of functional demands organizing interaction among family members
interpersonal boundaries define individual family members and promote their differentiation and
autonomous, yet interdependent, functioning
boundaries with the outside world define the family unit, but boundaries must be permeable enough to
maintain a well-functioning open system, allowing contact and reciprocal exchanges with the social
world
hierarchical organization in families of all cultures is maintained by generational boundaries, the rules of
differentiating parent and child roles, rights, and obligations
Bowenian Family Therapy - Answers the social worker is interested in improving the intergenerational
transmission process
it is assumed that improvement in overall functioning will ultimately reduce a family member's
symptomatology
major concepts: differentiation, emotional system, multigenerational transmission, emotional triangle,
nuclear family, family projection process, sibling position, ad societal regression
Emotional fusion (system) - Answers the counterpart of differentiation.
refers to the tendency for family members to share an emotional response
result of poor interpersonal boundaries between family members
in a fused family, there is little room for emotional autonomy. If a member makes a move toward
autonomy, it is experienced as abandonment by other members of the family
Systems Theory - Answers Views human behavior through larger contexts, such as members of families,
communities, and broader society.
When one thing changes within a system, the whole system is affected
Systems tend toward equilibrium and can have closed or open boundaries
Social workers need to understand interactions between the micro, meso, and macro levels
Ecomaps and genograms can help to understand system dynamics
Understanding "person-in-environment" is essential to identifying barriers or opportunities for chnage
Closed System - Answers uses up its energy and dies
Differentiation - Answers becoming specialized in structure and function
the more a client can be an individual while in emotional contact with the family. Allows a client to think
through a situation without being drawn to act by either internal or external emotional pressures
Entropy - Answers closed, disorganized, stagnant; using up available energy
Equifinality - Answers arriving at the same end from different beginnings
Homeostasis - Answers steady state
Input - Answers obtaining resources from the environment that are necessary to attain the goals of the
system
Negative entropy - Answers exchange of energy and resources between systems that promote growth
and transformation
Open system - Answers a system with cross-boundary exchange
Output - Answers a product of the system that exports to the environment
,Subsystem - Answers a major component of a system made up of two or more interdependent
components that interact in order to attain their own purpose(s) and the purpose(s) of the system in
which they are embedded
Suprasystem - Answers an entity that is served by a number of component systems organized in
interacting relationships
Throughput - Answers energy that is integrated into the system so it can be used by the system to
accomplish its goals
Family Theories - Answers a family systems approach argues that in order to understand a family
system, a social worker must look at the family as a whole, rather than focusing on its members
it is useful in understanding and managing individual problems by determining the extent to which such
problems are related to family issues
Equifianlity - Answers the ability of the family system to accomplish the same goals through different
routes
Interdependence - Answers individual family members and the subsystems comprised by the family
system are mutually influenced by and are mutually dependent upon one another. What happens to
one family member, or what one family member does, influences other family members
Genograms - Answers diagrams of family relationships beyond a family tree allowing a social worker and
client to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors
Family Therapy Approaches - Answers establish a contract with the family, examine alliances within the
family, identify where power resides, determine the relationship of each family member to the problem,
see how the family relates to the outside world, assess influence of family history on current family
interactions, ascertain communication patterns, identify family rules that regulate patterns of
interaction, determine meaning of presenting symptom in maintaining family homeostasis, examine
flexibility of structure and accessibility of alternative action patterns, find out about sources of external
stress and support
Strategic Family Therapy - Answers the social worker initiated what happens during therapy, designs a
specific approach for each person's presenting problem, and takes responsibility for directly influencing
people
Built on the communication theory
is active, brief, directive, and task-centered
,more interested in creating change in behavior than change in understanding
based on the assumption that families are flexible enough to modify solutions that do not work and
adjust or develop
assumption that all problems have multiple origins
therapy focuses on problem resolution by altering the feedback cycle or loop that maintains the
symptomatic behavior
social worker's task is to formulate the problem in solvable, behavioral terms and to design an
intervention plan to change the dysfunctional family pattern
Pretend techcnique - Answers encourage family members to "pretend" and encourage voluntary control
of behavior
First-order changes - Answers superficial behavioral changes within a system that do not change the
structure of the system
Second-order changes - Answers changes to the systematic interaction pattern so the system is
reorganized and functions more effectively
Family homeostasis - Answers families tend to preserve familiar organization and communication
patterns; resistant to change
Relabeling - Answers Changing the label attached to a person or problem from negative to positive so
the situation can be perceived different; it is hoped that new responses will evolve
Paradoxical directive or instruction - Answers prescribe the symptomatic behavior so a client realizes he
or she can control it; uses the strength of the resistance to change in order to move the client toward
goals
Structural Family Therapy - Answers this approach stresses the importance of family organization for the
functioning of the group and the well-being of its members
a social worker "joins" the family in an effort to restructure it
, defined as the invisible set of functional demands organizing interaction among family members
interpersonal boundaries define individual family members and promote their differentiation and
autonomous, yet interdependent, functioning
boundaries with the outside world define the family unit, but boundaries must be permeable enough to
maintain a well-functioning open system, allowing contact and reciprocal exchanges with the social
world
hierarchical organization in families of all cultures is maintained by generational boundaries, the rules of
differentiating parent and child roles, rights, and obligations
Bowenian Family Therapy - Answers the social worker is interested in improving the intergenerational
transmission process
it is assumed that improvement in overall functioning will ultimately reduce a family member's
symptomatology
major concepts: differentiation, emotional system, multigenerational transmission, emotional triangle,
nuclear family, family projection process, sibling position, ad societal regression
Emotional fusion (system) - Answers the counterpart of differentiation.
refers to the tendency for family members to share an emotional response
result of poor interpersonal boundaries between family members
in a fused family, there is little room for emotional autonomy. If a member makes a move toward
autonomy, it is experienced as abandonment by other members of the family
