ASWB Masters MCQ 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker discovers that a client with severe depression has been secretly stockpiling medications. The client begs the social worker not to tell anyone. What is the most appropriate initial action?
- Respect the client's confidentiality and take no action
- Conduct a thorough suicide risk assessment immediately (Correct answer)
- Contact the client's psychiatrist without the client's knowledge
- Terminate services and refer the client elsewhere
Correct answer: Conduct a thorough suicide risk assessment immediately
A thorough suicide risk assessment must be conducted first to determine the level of danger before deciding on any intervention or breach of confidentiality.
Question 2: During a home visit, a social worker observes unexplained bruising on an elderly client who lives with an adult child. The client says she 'falls a lot.' What should the social worker do?
- Accept the client's explanation and document the observation
- Interview the client privately and assess for elder abuse (Correct answer)
- Immediately contact Adult Protective Services without speaking to the client
- Confront the adult child directly about the bruising
Correct answer: Interview the client privately and assess for elder abuse
The social worker should first interview the client privately to conduct a proper assessment before determining whether a mandatory report is required.
Question 3: A client in family therapy discloses that her husband hits their children but has not done so recently. The children appear healthy and deny abuse. What is the social worker's obligation?
- Wait to see if abuse recurs before reporting
- File a mandatory report because past abuse was disclosed (Correct answer)
- Consult a supervisor and document but delay reporting
- Refer the family to parenting classes and monitor the situation
Correct answer: File a mandatory report because past abuse was disclosed
Social workers are mandatory reporters and must report disclosed child abuse regardless of whether it is ongoing or occurred in the past.
Question 4: A social worker using a strengths-based approach with a client experiencing chronic unemployment should primarily focus on:
- Identifying barriers created by the client's personality deficits
- Exploring the client's existing skills, resources, and past successes (Correct answer)
- Providing a structured plan developed by the social worker
- Emphasizing the consequences of continued unemployment
Correct answer: Exploring the client's existing skills, resources, and past successes
Strengths-based practice centers on identifying and building upon the client's own capabilities, resilience, and resources rather than focusing on deficits.
Question 5: A social worker is ending treatment with a client after 18 months. The client becomes angry and accuses the social worker of abandonment. This reaction is BEST understood as:
- A sign of treatment failure requiring extended services
- Transference related to the client's past experiences of loss (Correct answer)
- Manipulation to avoid termination
- Evidence of a personality disorder
Correct answer: Transference related to the client's past experiences of loss
Strong emotional reactions at termination often reflect transference, where the client projects feelings from past abandonment or loss experiences onto the therapeutic relationship.
Question 6: Which intervention is MOST consistent with motivational interviewing when working with a client ambivalent about stopping alcohol use?
- Confronting the client about the health consequences of drinking
- Reflecting the client's own statements about wanting to change (Correct answer)
- Providing educational materials about alcohol dependence
- Setting firm treatment goals with the client's agreement
Correct answer: Reflecting the client's own statements about wanting to change
Motivational interviewing uses reflective listening to amplify the client's own change talk, avoiding confrontation and supporting intrinsic motivation.
Question 7: A social worker learns that a colleague is regularly seeing clients outside of office hours for social visits. The social worker should FIRST:
- Report the colleague directly to the state licensing board
- Discuss the ethical concern directly with the colleague (Correct answer)
- Ignore it since the clients appear willing participants
- Document the behavior and wait for a formal complaint
Correct answer: Discuss the ethical concern directly with the colleague
NASW ethics guidelines recommend first addressing ethical concerns directly with the colleague before escalating to supervisors or licensing bodies.
ASWB Masters MCQ 2
A social worker discovers that a client with severe depression has been secretly stockpiling medications.
The client begs the social worker not to tell anyone.
What is the most appropriate initial action?