ASWB MSW Exam Questions

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1.

Which of the following is the correct pair of circumstances under which a social worker can break confidentiality?

  • The client is a danger to themselves or others and a request for legal purposes

  • A request for legal purposes and answering a family's questions after the death of a client

  • The client is a danger to themselves or others and a third-party payer's request for information

Correct answer: The client is a danger to themselves or others and a request for legal purposes

Social workers are required to break confidentiality when any client reveals they are a threat to themselves or others. The social worker must identify that the client has a plan and the means to carry out the harmful event. Social workers are also required to break confidentiality in a legal matter (such as a court case), but they should try to give the least amount of information possible (only what is requested). Social workers should also inform clients when they must break confidentiality.

The remaining answer options are incorrect. Confidentiality should be maintained by the social worker, even after the patient passes away or if a third-party payer requests information.

2.

Which of the following is a TRUE statement about foster care?

  • Children come into foster care for many different reasons through different processes

  • Foster children should be placed with parents that are part of the same religion as the child

  • Foster care is a punitive adjustment for poor parenting

  • Foster care is a system that's privately funded through many charities

Correct answer: Children come into foster care for many different reasons through different processes  

There are many different reasons that a child may enter foster care, including mental illness of the parent, child abuse or neglect, and others.

The process by which foster care happens can be different depending on what state or county the child lives in. Foster care is not meant to be expressly punitive in character. Foster care is a publicly funded child welfare system.

3.

Which of the following types of program evaluation is most concerned with a thorough assessment of goal achievement?

  • Outcome assessment

  • Cost-benefit analysis

  • Cost-effectiveness analysis

  • Cost-benefit ratio

Correct answer: Outcome assessment

Program evaluation seeks to assess, document, and improve the services offered by an organization. There are at least three types. An outcome assessment picks a point of measurement and then gauges whether or not at that time the program has achieved its stated goals.

A cost-benefit analysis weighs the costs of operating a program versus the fiscal benefits of its outcomes; one specific way of measuring this is to generate a cost-benefit ratio. A cost-effectiveness analysis is much like a cost-benefit analysis but considers non-monetary gains in its analysis.

4.

Paula, a social worker, is working at a community mental health center that serves a low-income population. Paula notices that there is abundant waste in the organization, such as its use of office supplies and its redundant processes and functions. Paula decides to do what she can to save the resources of the organization so that more community members can be served. Which of the following social work roles is Paula enacting?

  • Change agent

  • Mediator

  • Advocate

  • Counselor

Correct answer: Change agent

Paula is acting as a change agent, affecting macro processes (in this case organizational function) in order to serve the ultimate good of a population.

A mediator steps in when there is a dispute between a client and another entity. An advocate speaks and acts on behalf of vulnerable clients. A counselor deals with clients on an individual basis to effect positive change.

5.

Which of the following classes of drugs is used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder?

  • Stimulants

  • Antipsychotics

  • Antidepressants

  • Mood stabilizers

Correct answer: Stimulants

Stimulants such as Adderall and Dexedrine are commonly used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Antipsychotics are used to treat the symptoms of thought disorders. Antidepressants and mood stabilizers are used as interventions to manage variability of mood.

6.

Though we should not make stereotypes or assumptions, some characteristics are recognized as being more prevalent than others in certain groups. In which of the following groups is communication often indirect to avoid direct confrontation?

  • Asian

  • African American

  • Native American

  • Hispanic/Latino

Correct answer: Asian

Generally speaking, in Asian cultures, there is a value placed on indirect communication that seeks to avoid confrontation.

The other cultures listed have different communicative norms.

7.

Which of the following is a key component of social constructionist theory?

  • People learn how to understand the world and their place in it through their interactions with others

  • The formal rules and regulations that guide individuals' behavior in a society are called social interactions

  • Individuals repeat the same behaviors so that over time they become habits and are embedded as part of their personality

Correct answer: People learn to understand the world and their place in it through their interactions with others

According to social constructionist theory, human understanding both produces and drives social interaction. Humans are social beings who interact with each other on the basis of a shared understanding about the world, which is itself developed in social interaction.

The remaining answer options are incorrect because they do not apply to social constructionist principles.

8.

If a person has exogenous depression, what is the character of that depression?

  • It is brought on by outside forces and circumstances

  • It is brought about by inner conflict

  • It is a product of organic process 

  • It is related to the aging process

Correct answer: It is brought on by outside forces and circumstances 

Exogenous depression is depression that is brought about by outside forces and circumstances, such as the loss of a job or a significant other. 

Endogenous depression is characterized by inner forces, such as inner conflict or organic process. Either might be related to the general process of aging.

9.

Which of the following drugs is used for the treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?

  • Dexedrine

  • Paxil

  • Lexapro

  • Luvox

Correct answer: Dexedrine

Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine) is used for the treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

The other drugs are all used for the treatment of Depressive Disorder.

10.

What is the word that means a biased belief that an individual's own cultural group is central and more important than other cultural groups?

  • Ethnocentrism

  • Racialcentrism

  • Ethnicentrism

Correct answer: Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is a belief that one's own cultural group is superior to other cultural groups. It is a way of viewing the world only from within one's own cultural perspective.

Racialcentrism and ethnicentrism are incorrect because they are fabricated terms.

11.

Sen is very dedicated to his ethical responsibilities to the social work profession. He decides to email his coworkers about how a new law will affect people with disabilities.

This is an example of what?

  • Monitoring and evaluating social policies

  • Contributing time and energy to the profession's growth and development

  • Monitoring and working to improve social workers' own practice interventions

Correct answer: Monitoring and evaluating social policies

One of the key ethical responsibilities of the social work profession—according to the NASW Code of Ethics—is to monitor and evaluate social policies. New laws are social policies; therefore, Sen was monitoring a new social policy that he evaluated and determined would affect some of his practice's clients.

The other answer options are incorrect because new laws are part of social policies, not the growth and development of social work or the improvement of social work practices.

12.

Who developed the system of social work values and categorized them into four groups (societal, organizational and institutional, professional, and human service practice values)?

  • Charles Levy

  • Muriel Pumphrey

  • David Gordon

  • Lee Frankel

Correct answer: Charles Levy

Charles Levy built the framework for classifying social work values based on four categories of core values. He argued that core values for the profession of social work should be derived from these four categories.

Muriel Pumphrey identified the importance of teaching ethics to students. David Gordon focused on discrimination in the labor market. Lee Frankel was devoted to Jewish social work.

13.

Which of the following is the BEST statement regarding the proper way to conduct physical contact between clients and social workers?

  • Touch should only be used when boundaries are made clear

  • Use the minimum necessary therapeutic touch

  • Clients should not be touched in a therapeutic context

  • Therapeutic touch is often necessary for client well-being

Correct answer: Touch should only be used when boundaries are made clear

Physical contact between social workers and clients is always risky. One of the ways to minimize this risk is to set clear, therapeutic boundaries about the contact.

A policy of using the minimum necessary therapeutic touch leaves out boundary-setting, which could lead to confusion on the part of the client. A rule of never touching clients seems safe enough, but also leaves out informing clients of the policy and could also confuse clients who might expect it. It is true that human beings seem to need touch, but it is risky enough that it should not form part of a regular treatment plan under most circumstances.

14.

All of the following are examples of closed-ended questions, EXCEPT:

  • "Would you tell me more about your experiences being raised by a single father?"

  • "What type of health insurance do you have?"

  • "How many years were you married before your wife died?"

  • "Do you find it difficult to remember to take your medications?"

Correct answer: "Would you tell me more about your experiences being raised by a single father?"

Closed-ended questions define a topic and restrict the client's response to a few words. Open-ended questions invite the client to expand on a topic and express what seems the most important to him. By asking the client to talk about his childhood, the social worker is inviting the client to elaborate on his experiences.

The remaining answer options are incorrect, as they are examples of closed-ended questions that elicit a concise response.

15.

Which core value listed in the NASW Code of Ethics emphasizes the importance of social workers increasing their professional skills and knowledge in order to best serve clients?

  • Competence

  • Integrity

  • Self-determination

  • Informed consent

Correct answer: Competence

According to the NASW Code of Ethics, competence is a core value that emphasizes the importance of social workers to increase their professional skills and knowledge to best serve clients. Social workers can increase their competence by attending trainings and seeking out supervision from more experienced social workers and mentors.

Integrity refers to the importance for social workers to act honestly and responsibly and to act in a way consistent with the social work profession. Self-determination and informed consent are not core social work values, though they are included in the ethical code as social workers' ethical responsibilities to clients.

16.

Which defense mechanism is more commonly used by adolescents with anorexia nervosa than by other psychiatric adolescent patients?

  • Intellectualization

  • Regression

  • Projection

  • Dissociation

Correct answer: Intellectualization

Defense mechanisms are ways to protect ourselves and reduce anxiety. Intellectualization is a defense mechanism in which an individual protects him- or herself from uncomfortable emotions by focusing on reasoning and thinking rather than feeling. This is commonly found in patients who have anorexia nervosa, a serious eating disorder, who attempt to repress their anxiety or other uncomfortable emotions by not eating.

Regression is the return to an earlier stage in development as a means of relieving anxiety. Projection is the misattribution of a person's undesirable feelings and impulses onto someone else. Dissociation occurs when someone loses track of the time or place and attempts to find a representation of themselves in order to continue in the moment.

17.

According to the DSM-5, how early after beginning an antidepressant might individuals experience sexual dysfunction?

  • 8 days

  • 1 month

  • 2 months

  • 4 hours

Correct answer: 8 days

According to the DSM-5, substance/medication-induced sexual dysfunction is a disorder in which the substance is the direct cause of the dysfunction. One common side effect of antidepressants is the inability to climax during sexual intercourse, in addition to an overall decreased libido. Individuals who take antidepressants have reported noticing effects on their sexual functioning as soon as eight days after starting to take the medication.

18.

When a social worker is considering termination of services, which of the following is the MOST important factor to take into account?

  • How termination might affect the client

  • Whether the social worker will get paid for the final session

  • The general impression the social worker has left on the client

  • The amount of progress the client has made during therapy

Correct answer: How termination might affect the client

Social workers should terminate services when professional services to a particular client are no longer required or no longer serve the client's needs or interests. The most important thing to consider, however, is how termination may affect and be perceived by the client. Social workers should terminate relationships with clients in a way that preserves the therapeutic relationship and maintains the progress and gains made in the social worker-client relationship.

When considering termination of services, the social worker should not be mainly concerned with payment or the impression they have left on the client. The social worker should consider the amount of progress the client has made during therapy, but there are certainly circumstances in which termination is appropriate despite the fact that the client has not made progress.

19.

What has been the main driver of using short-term interventions in therapy?

  • The influence of managed care

  • Clients tend to prefer them

  • Their ability to motivate long-term change

  • Their solid research base

Correct answer: The influence of managed care

The influence of managed care has driven a greater need for cost-effective treatments of short duration due to economic concerns. This has fueled the rise of short-term interventions in treatment.

Though some clients do prefer shorter interventions, it is unclear whether or not this type of intervention leads to long-term change. The research base for these interactions is still being established.

20.

When assessing an individual, a social worker gathers information on many different aspects of the client's life. Which of the following information is the social worker MOST likely to try to obtain if possible when doing an initial assessment?

  • An idea of the client's strengths and needs

  • Family pictures of the client

  • School records and transcripts

Correct answer: An idea of the client's strengths and needs

During the initial assessment, the social worker should gain an understanding of the client's strengths and what their treatment needs may be.

The other choices are things that the client might want to share with the social worker at some point, but they do not provide crucial information during assessment.