Bachelors Social Work

1. Question 1 · Human Development and Behavior

   In Freud's structural model of personality, which component holds internalized parental and societal standards and produces guilt when those standards are violated?
   • A.The id
   • B.The superego
   • C.The preconscious
   • D.The ego
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. The superego

   The superego is the moral component that internalizes parental and societal rules and generates guilt. The id seeks immediate gratification of drives, and the ego mediates between the id, the superego, and reality. The preconscious belongs to Freud's topographic model of awareness, not the structural model.

2. Question 2 · Professional Values and Ethics

   A 68-year-old Muslim client in a rural aging services program says that prayer and her mosque community help her cope with her husband's illness. What is the social worker's BEST approach?
   • A.Keep the focus on concrete services since religion is outside the role
   • B.Suggest secular coping strategies to avoid imposing religious values
   • C.Explore her faith as a source of strength and support in the care plan
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Explore her faith as a source of strength and support in the care plan

   Spirituality is part of the person-in-environment view, and a client's faith and religious community can be key strengths and supports. Treating religion as outside the role ignores what the client has named as helpful. Steering her toward secular strategies disregards her own coping and imposes the worker's framing.

3. Question 3 · Human Development and Behavior

   Three months into her service plan, Keisha has not met her objective of attending a weekly parenting class. She explains that the class meets at a time when she has no child care. What should the social worker do NEXT?
   • A.Keep the plan as written and remind her the class is required
   • B.Document that Keisha is noncompliant with her service plan
   • C.Close the case because the objective was not met on time
   • D.Revise the plan with Keisha to address the child care barrier
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Revise the plan with Keisha to address the child care barrier

   Monitoring a plan includes revising it with the client when a barrier, such as child care, blocks progress. Labeling Keisha noncompliant or keeping the plan unchanged ignores the real obstacle she named. Closing the case is premature and abandons a client who is willing but blocked.

4. Question 4 · Professional Relationships

   At the final session, Mrs. Nguyen, a 78-year-old client at an aging services agency, gives her social worker a small plate of homemade spring rolls to thank her. Agency policy permits gifts of nominal value. What is the social worker's BEST response?
   • A.Accept the gift and offer to pay Mrs. Nguyen for the cost of the ingredients
   • B.Accept the gift and suggest that she bring food to future agency events
   • C.Decline the gift and explain that professional ethics forbid accepting any gift
   • D.Accept the gift graciously, thank her, and document it in her record
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Accept the gift graciously, thank her, and document it in her record

   A small, nominal gift offered at termination, permitted by agency policy and meaningful in the client's culture, can be accepted graciously and documented. Declining the gift and explaining that professional ethics forbid accepting any gift misstates the NASW Code of Ethics and may hurt the client. Offering payment or inviting more food turns a simple thank-you into a transaction or an ongoing exchange.

5. Question 5 · Professional Values and Ethics

   A social worker at a family services agency has accepted a new job and will leave in six weeks. What is her MOST important responsibility to her current clients?
   • A.Give clients her new contact information so they can continue to see her
   • B.Close all of her cases before leaving so that the agency has no open files
   • C.Tell clients on her last day so they do not worry about the change for weeks
   • D.Tell clients about the change early and help each one transition to a new worker
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Tell clients about the change early and help each one transition to a new worker

   The NASW Code of Ethics calls for reasonable efforts to ensure continuity of services when they are interrupted, including timely notice and transfer or referral. Waiting until the last day gives clients no time to prepare. Taking clients to a new job may violate agency policy, and closing all cases abandons clients who still need services.

6. Question 6 · Human Development and Behavior

   In Freud's psychosexual theory, the relatively calm period from about age 6 to puberty, when sexual energy is channeled into school, friendships, and skills, is the:
   • A.Phallic stage
   • B.Latency stage
   • C.Genital stage
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. Latency stage

   The latency stage runs from about age 6 to puberty, with sexual drives largely dormant and energy directed to learning and same-sex friendships. The phallic stage (about ages 3 to 6) centers on the Oedipal conflict. The genital stage begins at puberty with mature sexual interests.

7. Question 7 · Professional Values and Ethics

   A 16-year-old tells a school social worker that he is gay and is not ready for his parents to know. He is not at risk of harm. What is the BEST response?
   • A.Tell his parents, since they have a right to know about their minor child
   • B.Keep the disclosure private and offer affirming support and resources
   • C.Refer him to counseling to help him clarify his sexual orientation
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. Keep the disclosure private and offer affirming support and resources

   With no safety risk, the student controls when and to whom he comes out, and affirming support protects his well-being. Telling his parents without consent breaks confidentiality and can expose him to rejection or harm. Referring him to clarify his orientation implies it is a problem to be fixed, which is not affirming.

8. Question 8 · Human Development and Behavior

   Tom, 41, is court-ordered to a family service agency after a DUI arrest. At intake he says, "I'm only here because the judge made me." What should the social worker do FIRST?
   • A.Begin the substance use assessment required by the court
   • B.Confront him about denying that he has a drinking problem
   • C.Explain the consequences of not completing the program
   • D.Explore his view of why he was referred and what he wants
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Explore his view of why he was referred and what he wants

   With an involuntary client, the first step is to engage him by learning his view of the referral and what he wants, which builds motivation and rapport. Explaining consequences first can feel coercive, and confronting him about denial increases resistance. Beginning the court-required assessment before any engagement is likely to yield guarded, incomplete answers. With involuntary clients, engagement comes before the assessment itself.

9. Question 9 · Professional Relationships

   After a stroke, Mr. Castillo, 66, receives home health nursing, outpatient therapy, and meal delivery. He tells his case manager that the providers keep scheduling visits at the same times and giving him conflicting instructions. What should the case manager do FIRST?
   • A.Give Mr. Castillo a calendar so he can sort out the schedules with each provider
   • B.Call each provider and share the details of his medical history so they can plan together
   • C.Tell Mr. Castillo to choose one service to keep and cancel the other two for now
   • D.Get Mr. Castillo's consent to share information and coordinate with all three providers
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Get Mr. Castillo's consent to share information and coordinate with all three providers

   Coordination is a core case management function, and it starts with client consent before information is shared. Calling providers and sharing his medical history without consent breaches confidentiality. Cancelling services takes away needed care, and leaving the scheduling to Mr. Castillo places the coordination burden on him.

10. Question 10 · Professional Values and Ethics

    While writing a case note after a home visit, a social worker includes the client's long story about a neighbor's affair and the client's opinions about her coworkers' personal lives. How should the social worker revise the note?
    • A.Move the extra details to a private file that is kept outside the agency's official records
    • B.Keep all of the details so that the record is as complete as possible
    • C.Keep only the information that is relevant to the services being provided
    Show answer and explanation

    Answer: C. Keep only the information that is relevant to the services being provided

    The NASW Code of Ethics directs social workers to include only information directly relevant to service delivery in client records, which protects the privacy of clients and third parties. Recording every detail does not make a record more useful, and it exposes private information about others. Keeping a separate private file outside official records is improper.

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