ASWB SOCIAL WORK ASWB MASTERS
PRACTICE TESTS PART 1 Questions and
Answers
1. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: A theory centered on how people try to reach internal
consistency. Patients have an inner need to ensure that their beliefs and behaviors are consistent.
Inconsistent or conflicting beliefs lead to disharmony, which patients strive to avoid.
2. Three key strategies to reduce or minimize cognitive dissonance:
1. Focus on-more supportive beliefs that outweigh the dissonant belief or behavior.
2. Reduce the importance of the conflicting belief, and
3. Change the conflicting belief so that it is consistent with other beliefs or behaviors.
3. METACOMMUNICATION: Is the context within which to interpret the content of a
message such as nonverbal communication, body language, tone, etc.
4. Displacement and Intellectualization: are both defense mechanisms.
--Displacement is directing an impulse or feeling toward a less threatening target.
--Intellectualization is focusing on the facts and logic to avoid uncomfortable emotions.
5. A social worker who retired more than a year ago from private
practice runs into a former client whom she has not seen in years.
,The former client received grief counseling from the social worker
for several years after her mother died. The former client also
recently retired and suggests that the social workers join a local
group for retirees to which she belongs. The social worker, who has
been looking for ways to stay active, agrees to attend the next
meeting. The social worker's actions are: Problematic as she is knowingly creating
a conflict of interest or dual relationship.
--Social workers must ensure that they do not engage in dual or multiple relationships with current or
former clients.
6. A client reports that he was recently in a serious accident at work
that has resulted in limitations in his mobility. In this situation, a
social worker should FIRST: Conduct a biopsychosocial assessment to determine the impact
of the client's physical changes on his other life domains.
7. Which is NOT an appropriate reason for a social worker to
conduct a needs assessment?: Documentation of critical needs identified by service
agencies.
8. Needs assessments: are concerned with discovering the characteristics and extent of a
particular social situation to determine the most appropriate response.
9. Some reasons for conducting a needs assessment including to
determine: -
--Whether services exist in the community.
, --Whether there are enough clients
--Who uses existing services
--What barriers prevent clients from accepting services
--The existence of an ongoing social problem.
10. A key ethical issue with needs assessment: is ensuring that the
needs documented are expressed by those in a community affected by a problem, rather than
the needs that an agency would like to see met.
11. Universalism, as a basis of social allocation, is BEST defined as:
Benefits made
available to an entire population as a basic right.
Examples are social security for those who are elderly and public education for the youth.
12. A critical aspect of social policy analysis is determining the
social allocation methodology.: SOCIAL ALLOCATION concerns those who shall benefit and
the manner in which entitlement is defined.
13. Which is true about child sexual abuse: Perpetrators are male in the majority
of reported cases of sexual abuse.
14. Absent client consent to release records or a recognized legal
exception, what ethical duty do social workers have with regard to
releasing client information?: Social workers must claim privilege on behalf of clients.
PRACTICE TESTS PART 1 Questions and
Answers
1. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: A theory centered on how people try to reach internal
consistency. Patients have an inner need to ensure that their beliefs and behaviors are consistent.
Inconsistent or conflicting beliefs lead to disharmony, which patients strive to avoid.
2. Three key strategies to reduce or minimize cognitive dissonance:
1. Focus on-more supportive beliefs that outweigh the dissonant belief or behavior.
2. Reduce the importance of the conflicting belief, and
3. Change the conflicting belief so that it is consistent with other beliefs or behaviors.
3. METACOMMUNICATION: Is the context within which to interpret the content of a
message such as nonverbal communication, body language, tone, etc.
4. Displacement and Intellectualization: are both defense mechanisms.
--Displacement is directing an impulse or feeling toward a less threatening target.
--Intellectualization is focusing on the facts and logic to avoid uncomfortable emotions.
5. A social worker who retired more than a year ago from private
practice runs into a former client whom she has not seen in years.
,The former client received grief counseling from the social worker
for several years after her mother died. The former client also
recently retired and suggests that the social workers join a local
group for retirees to which she belongs. The social worker, who has
been looking for ways to stay active, agrees to attend the next
meeting. The social worker's actions are: Problematic as she is knowingly creating
a conflict of interest or dual relationship.
--Social workers must ensure that they do not engage in dual or multiple relationships with current or
former clients.
6. A client reports that he was recently in a serious accident at work
that has resulted in limitations in his mobility. In this situation, a
social worker should FIRST: Conduct a biopsychosocial assessment to determine the impact
of the client's physical changes on his other life domains.
7. Which is NOT an appropriate reason for a social worker to
conduct a needs assessment?: Documentation of critical needs identified by service
agencies.
8. Needs assessments: are concerned with discovering the characteristics and extent of a
particular social situation to determine the most appropriate response.
9. Some reasons for conducting a needs assessment including to
determine: -
--Whether services exist in the community.
, --Whether there are enough clients
--Who uses existing services
--What barriers prevent clients from accepting services
--The existence of an ongoing social problem.
10. A key ethical issue with needs assessment: is ensuring that the
needs documented are expressed by those in a community affected by a problem, rather than
the needs that an agency would like to see met.
11. Universalism, as a basis of social allocation, is BEST defined as:
Benefits made
available to an entire population as a basic right.
Examples are social security for those who are elderly and public education for the youth.
12. A critical aspect of social policy analysis is determining the
social allocation methodology.: SOCIAL ALLOCATION concerns those who shall benefit and
the manner in which entitlement is defined.
13. Which is true about child sexual abuse: Perpetrators are male in the majority
of reported cases of sexual abuse.
14. Absent client consent to release records or a recognized legal
exception, what ethical duty do social workers have with regard to
releasing client information?: Social workers must claim privilege on behalf of clients.
