ASWB Masters Practice 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker is meeting with a client who discloses they have been stockpiling medications 'just in case.' What is the FIRST action the social worker should take?
- Document the disclosure in the case notes
- Conduct a suicide risk assessment (Correct answer)
- Notify the client's prescribing physician immediately
- Develop a safety plan with the client
Correct answer: Conduct a suicide risk assessment
Stockpiling medications is a warning sign of suicidal intent, so a thorough risk assessment must be conducted before any other intervention.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the 'working phase' of a therapeutic group?
- Members test boundaries and vie for leadership roles
- Members engage in deep self-disclosure and mutual problem-solving (Correct answer)
- Members experience anxiety and resistance to participation
- Members summarize gains and prepare for termination
Correct answer: Members engage in deep self-disclosure and mutual problem-solving
The working phase is characterized by cohesion, trust, and members actively engaging in meaningful self-disclosure and helping one another.
Question 3: A client in a domestic violence shelter tells a social worker she plans to return to her abusive partner. The social worker disagrees with this decision. What is the most appropriate response?
- Inform the client she will lose her shelter placement if she leaves
- Respect the client's autonomy and help her develop a safety plan (Correct answer)
- Contact the partner to warn him about the client's vulnerability
- Refer the client to a different social worker who may be more persuasive
Correct answer: Respect the client's autonomy and help her develop a safety plan
Client self-determination is a core social work value; the worker should respect the decision and focus on harm reduction through safety planning.
Question 4: According to NASW ethical standards, a social worker who becomes aware that a colleague is practicing while 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)
- Inform the agency administrator without talking to the colleague
- Document observations and wait to see if impairment continues
Correct answer: Confront the colleague and encourage them to seek help
NASW standards direct social workers to first address the issue with the colleague directly before escalating to formal reporting, when feasible.
Question 5: A school social worker notices that a 10-year-old student frequently arrives unwashed and without lunch. The child denies problems at home. The social worker should:
- Accept the child's account and monitor the situation for two more weeks
- Consult with the school principal before taking any action
- File a report of suspected neglect with child protective services (Correct answer)
- Contact the parents to ask them to improve the child's hygiene
Correct answer: File a report of suspected neglect with child protective services
Observable signs of neglect (poor hygiene, inadequate food) meet the threshold for a mandated report regardless of the child's denial.
Question 6: Which theoretical framework emphasizes that human problems arise from irrational beliefs and that changing those beliefs leads to emotional and behavioral change?
- Attachment theory
- Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) (Correct answer)
- Object relations theory
- Structural family therapy
Correct answer: Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
REBT, developed by Albert Ellis, holds that irrational beliefs (not events themselves) cause emotional disturbance and that disputing them creates change.
Question 7: A social worker using a strengths-based perspective would MOST likely begin an assessment by:
- Reviewing the client's psychiatric history and prior diagnoses
- Asking the client what has worked for them in the past (Correct answer)
- Administering a standardized depression screening instrument
- Identifying the client's presenting problem in behavioral terms
Correct answer: Asking the client what has worked for them in the past
The strengths-based approach centers the client's own resources, past successes, and resilience as the foundation for intervention.
ASWB Masters Practice 2
A social worker is meeting with a client who discloses they have been stockpiling medications 'just in case.' What is the FIRST action the social worker should take?