MSW Comp Exam – Master of Social Work Comprehensive Exam Study Guide (Full Curriculum
Review and Exam Preparation Material)
broker - correct answer ✔✔intermediary between resources, make referrals
case manager - correct answer ✔✔assessing needs of clients & coordinating services
advocate - correct answer ✔✔working on behalf of client to access resources
facilitator - correct answer ✔✔plan & implement changes
mediator - correct answer ✔✔mediate when there is a breakdown between clients & service
providers
steps of the helping process - correct answer ✔✔exploration, engagement, research,
assessment, planning, implementation, goal evaluation, & termination
core values of the social work profession - correct answer ✔✔service, social justice, dignity &
worth of a person, importance of human relationships, integrity, & competence
transference - correct answer ✔✔unrealistic perceptions of & reactions to a social worker, client
relates therapist to mother or something
countertransference - correct answer ✔✔social worker putting their junk onto clients, uses
client to fulfill needs
determinism - correct answer ✔✔one phenomenon is caused solely by another
,reductionism - correct answer ✔✔certain phenomenon can only be explained by one specific
discipline
erikson stages of development - correct answer ✔✔trust vs. mistrust - birth to 1 year
autonomy vs. shame & doubt - 2-3 years
initiative vs. guilt - 3-5 years
industry vs. inferiority - 6-12 years
identity vs. role confusion - 12-18 years
intimacy vs. isolation - early to late 20s
generativity vs. stagnation - late 20s to 50s
integrity vs. despair - after 50
piaget stages of cognitive development - correct answer ✔✔sensorimotor (0-2 years) - they
exist separately from people around them, they can cause things to happen, things continue to
exist when they can't see them
preoperational (2-7 years) - development of language & imaginative play, egocentric thinking,
counting, symbols
concrete operational (7-11 years) - development of reasons, logical thought, see things from
different points of view
formal operations (12+ years) - abstract thought, scientific reasoning, deductive reasoning
kohlberg stages of moral development - correct answer ✔✔pre-conventional (0-9 years) -
obedience & punishment, naively egoistic
conventional (9-15 years) - good boy/nice girl, authority maintaining
post-conventional (16+ years) - contractual legalistic, universal ethical principle
motivational interviewing - correct answer ✔✔open-ended questions
affirmations
, reflective listening
summarizing
stages of change - correct answer ✔✔precontemplation - avoidance, there is no problem
contemplation - acknowledging that there is a problem but ambivalence
preparation - taking steps to get ready for change
action - making the change, living new behaviors
maintenance - maintaining the behavior change
freud stages of psychosocial development - correct answer ✔✔oral (birth to 12-18 months) -
mouth
anal (2-3 years) - control over bodily function
phallic (3-5 years) - sexual experimentation, oedipal/electra
latency (5-puberty) - no sexual desires
genital (puberty-adulthood) - experiencing with sex
fowler stages of faith development - correct answer ✔✔primal faith - infancy
intuitive-projective faith - 2-6 years
mythical-literal faith - 6 years to adolescence
synthetic-conventional faith - adolescence to young adulthood
individuative-reflective faith - young adulthood to early midlife
conjunctive faith - early midlife to midlife
universalizing faith - midlife & beyond
model of becoming culturally competent - correct answer ✔✔cultural destructiveness - harmful
policies/practices
cultural incapacity - not intentionally destructive but lack skills to do otherwise
Review and Exam Preparation Material)
broker - correct answer ✔✔intermediary between resources, make referrals
case manager - correct answer ✔✔assessing needs of clients & coordinating services
advocate - correct answer ✔✔working on behalf of client to access resources
facilitator - correct answer ✔✔plan & implement changes
mediator - correct answer ✔✔mediate when there is a breakdown between clients & service
providers
steps of the helping process - correct answer ✔✔exploration, engagement, research,
assessment, planning, implementation, goal evaluation, & termination
core values of the social work profession - correct answer ✔✔service, social justice, dignity &
worth of a person, importance of human relationships, integrity, & competence
transference - correct answer ✔✔unrealistic perceptions of & reactions to a social worker, client
relates therapist to mother or something
countertransference - correct answer ✔✔social worker putting their junk onto clients, uses
client to fulfill needs
determinism - correct answer ✔✔one phenomenon is caused solely by another
,reductionism - correct answer ✔✔certain phenomenon can only be explained by one specific
discipline
erikson stages of development - correct answer ✔✔trust vs. mistrust - birth to 1 year
autonomy vs. shame & doubt - 2-3 years
initiative vs. guilt - 3-5 years
industry vs. inferiority - 6-12 years
identity vs. role confusion - 12-18 years
intimacy vs. isolation - early to late 20s
generativity vs. stagnation - late 20s to 50s
integrity vs. despair - after 50
piaget stages of cognitive development - correct answer ✔✔sensorimotor (0-2 years) - they
exist separately from people around them, they can cause things to happen, things continue to
exist when they can't see them
preoperational (2-7 years) - development of language & imaginative play, egocentric thinking,
counting, symbols
concrete operational (7-11 years) - development of reasons, logical thought, see things from
different points of view
formal operations (12+ years) - abstract thought, scientific reasoning, deductive reasoning
kohlberg stages of moral development - correct answer ✔✔pre-conventional (0-9 years) -
obedience & punishment, naively egoistic
conventional (9-15 years) - good boy/nice girl, authority maintaining
post-conventional (16+ years) - contractual legalistic, universal ethical principle
motivational interviewing - correct answer ✔✔open-ended questions
affirmations
, reflective listening
summarizing
stages of change - correct answer ✔✔precontemplation - avoidance, there is no problem
contemplation - acknowledging that there is a problem but ambivalence
preparation - taking steps to get ready for change
action - making the change, living new behaviors
maintenance - maintaining the behavior change
freud stages of psychosocial development - correct answer ✔✔oral (birth to 12-18 months) -
mouth
anal (2-3 years) - control over bodily function
phallic (3-5 years) - sexual experimentation, oedipal/electra
latency (5-puberty) - no sexual desires
genital (puberty-adulthood) - experiencing with sex
fowler stages of faith development - correct answer ✔✔primal faith - infancy
intuitive-projective faith - 2-6 years
mythical-literal faith - 6 years to adolescence
synthetic-conventional faith - adolescence to young adulthood
individuative-reflective faith - young adulthood to early midlife
conjunctive faith - early midlife to midlife
universalizing faith - midlife & beyond
model of becoming culturally competent - correct answer ✔✔cultural destructiveness - harmful
policies/practices
cultural incapacity - not intentionally destructive but lack skills to do otherwise
