ASWB Social Work Exam Questions And 100%
Correct Answers
Systems Theory - ANSWER 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 requisite to identifying barriers or
opportunities for chnage
Closed System - ANSWER uses up its energy and dies
Differentiation - ANSWER 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 ANSWER closed, disorganized, stagnant; using up available energy
,Equifinality ANSWER arriving at the same end from different beginnings
Homeostasis ANSWER steady state
Input ANSWER obtaining resources from the environment that are necessary to attain
the goals of the system
Negative entropy ANSWER exchange of energy and resources between systems that
promote growth and transformation
Open system ANSWER a system with cross-boundary exchange
Output-product of the system that exports to the environment
Subsystem-a major component of a system composed of two or more interdependent
components interacting to attain their own purpose(s) and the purpose(s) of the system
in which they are embedded
Suprasystem-an entity that is served by a number of component systems organized in
interacting relationships
Throughput - ANSWER energy that is invested in the system so that it may be used by
the system to serve its purposes
Family Theories - ANSWER The family systems approach claims that for a social worker
to comprehend the family system, he or she must view it as a whole and not its members
it helps in understanding and coping with individual problems by establishing the extent
to which such problems are related to family matters
,Equifianlity - ANSWER the ability of the family system to reach the same goals through
different routes
Interdependence-ANSWER 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-ANSWER diagrams of family relationships beyond a family tree allowing a
social worker and client to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors
Approaches to Family Therapy - ANSWER family contract, alliances within family,
location of power, position of each family member in relation to the problem, interaction
pattern of family with outside world, role of family history in shaping present family
interaction, communication patterns, family rules governing interaction pattern,
significance of symptom in terms of maintenance of family homeostasis, rigidity of
structure and availability of alternative action patterns, extent of sources of external
stress and support
Strategic Family Therapy - QUESTION 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 of multi-variance in the origins of all problems
therapy directed at solving problems through modification of the feedback cycle or loop
maintaining the symptomatic behavior
social worker's role viewed as formulating the problem in solvable, behavioral terms
and designing intervention plan to modify the dysfunctional family pattern
Pretend techcnique- ANSWER encourage family members to "pretend" and encourage
voluntary control of behavior
First-order changes - ANSWER superficial behavioral changes within a system that do
not change the structure of the system
Second-order changes - ANSWER changes to the systematic interaction pattern so the
system is reorganized and functions more effectively
Family homeostasis - ANSWER families tend to preserve familiar organization and
communication patterns; resistant to change
Relabeling - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER this approach emphasizes the importance of
family organization for the functioning of the group and the well-being of its members
Correct Answers
Systems Theory - ANSWER 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 requisite to identifying barriers or
opportunities for chnage
Closed System - ANSWER uses up its energy and dies
Differentiation - ANSWER 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 ANSWER closed, disorganized, stagnant; using up available energy
,Equifinality ANSWER arriving at the same end from different beginnings
Homeostasis ANSWER steady state
Input ANSWER obtaining resources from the environment that are necessary to attain
the goals of the system
Negative entropy ANSWER exchange of energy and resources between systems that
promote growth and transformation
Open system ANSWER a system with cross-boundary exchange
Output-product of the system that exports to the environment
Subsystem-a major component of a system composed of two or more interdependent
components interacting to attain their own purpose(s) and the purpose(s) of the system
in which they are embedded
Suprasystem-an entity that is served by a number of component systems organized in
interacting relationships
Throughput - ANSWER energy that is invested in the system so that it may be used by
the system to serve its purposes
Family Theories - ANSWER The family systems approach claims that for a social worker
to comprehend the family system, he or she must view it as a whole and not its members
it helps in understanding and coping with individual problems by establishing the extent
to which such problems are related to family matters
,Equifianlity - ANSWER the ability of the family system to reach the same goals through
different routes
Interdependence-ANSWER 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-ANSWER diagrams of family relationships beyond a family tree allowing a
social worker and client to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors
Approaches to Family Therapy - ANSWER family contract, alliances within family,
location of power, position of each family member in relation to the problem, interaction
pattern of family with outside world, role of family history in shaping present family
interaction, communication patterns, family rules governing interaction pattern,
significance of symptom in terms of maintenance of family homeostasis, rigidity of
structure and availability of alternative action patterns, extent of sources of external
stress and support
Strategic Family Therapy - QUESTION 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 of multi-variance in the origins of all problems
therapy directed at solving problems through modification of the feedback cycle or loop
maintaining the symptomatic behavior
social worker's role viewed as formulating the problem in solvable, behavioral terms
and designing intervention plan to modify the dysfunctional family pattern
Pretend techcnique- ANSWER encourage family members to "pretend" and encourage
voluntary control of behavior
First-order changes - ANSWER superficial behavioral changes within a system that do
not change the structure of the system
Second-order changes - ANSWER changes to the systematic interaction pattern so the
system is reorganized and functions more effectively
Family homeostasis - ANSWER families tend to preserve familiar organization and
communication patterns; resistant to change
Relabeling - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER this approach emphasizes the importance of
family organization for the functioning of the group and the well-being of its members
