ASWB Masters Basic 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker is meeting with a client who discloses that her partner hits her but insists she does not want to leave. What is the social worker's FIRST priority?
- Respect the client's autonomy and follow her lead
- Assess the client's immediate safety and lethality risk (Correct answer)
- Contact the partner to address the abusive behavior
- Refer the client to a domestic violence shelter immediately
Correct answer: Assess the client's immediate safety and lethality risk
Lethality and safety assessment must occur before any other intervention when domestic violence is disclosed.
Question 2: According to systems theory, which term describes the tendency of a system to maintain its current state and resist change?
- Equifinality
- Entropy
- Homeostasis (Correct answer)
- Differentiation
Correct answer: Homeostasis
Homeostasis refers to a system's drive to maintain balance and stability, often resisting therapeutic change.
Question 3: A client with major depressive disorder tells his social worker he has been stockpiling medications 'just in case.' What type of risk does this MOST represent?
- Chronic suicidal ideation without plan
- Passive death wish
- Active suicidal ideation with means access (Correct answer)
- Suicidal gesture behavior
Correct answer: Active suicidal ideation with means access
Stockpiling medications constitutes having a means of suicide, elevating risk to active suicidal ideation with access to lethal means.
Question 4: A social worker uses role-playing during a session to help a client practice assertiveness with her supervisor. This technique is BEST associated with which theoretical approach?
- Psychodynamic therapy
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy (Correct answer)
- Solution-focused brief therapy
- Narrative therapy
Correct answer: Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Role-playing and behavioral rehearsal are core CBT techniques used to practice new skills in a safe environment.
Question 5: Under the NASW Code of Ethics, a social worker who becomes aware that a colleague is impaired by substance use should FIRST:
- Report the colleague directly to the state licensing board
- Confront the colleague and encourage them to seek help (Correct answer)
- Notify law enforcement if clients are at risk
- Terminate the professional relationship immediately
Correct answer: Confront the colleague and encourage them to seek help
The NASW Code of Ethics requires social workers to first address colleague impairment directly by encouraging the colleague to seek assistance.
Question 6: A child placed in foster care exhibits indiscriminate affection toward all adult strangers. This behavior is MOST consistent with which attachment pattern?
- Secure attachment
- Avoidant attachment
- Disorganized attachment
- Disinhibited social engagement disorder (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Disinhibited social engagement disorder
Disinhibited social engagement disorder involves indiscriminate friendliness with strangers, typically resulting from early neglect or multiple caregiver disruptions.
Question 7: A social worker in a hospital setting disagrees with the treatment team's decision to discharge a client who the social worker believes is not ready. The BEST course of action is to:
- Refuse to complete the discharge paperwork
- Contact the client's family to override the team decision
- Document the concern and raise it formally through proper channels (Correct answer)
- Accept the decision without comment to maintain team harmony
Correct answer: Document the concern and raise it formally through proper channels
Social workers must advocate for clients through proper institutional channels while documenting professional concerns to uphold ethical and professional standards.
ASWB Masters Basic 2
A social worker is meeting with a client who discloses that her partner hits her but insists she does not want to leave.
What is the social worker's FIRST priority?