MSW Licensure Prep – Master of Social Work Licensing Exam Study Guide (Comprehensive
Review and Exam Preparation Material)
cognitive dissonance - correct answer ✔✔Upon intake, a client who professes to be "health
conscious" reports that she smokes cigarettes. When asked by the SOWO if she is aware of
health risks associated with smoking, the client states that "the reports are filled with
misinformation and the hazards are not that great." The client's assertion MOST likely results
from:
a. Cognitive dissonance
b. Metacommunication
c. Displacement
d. Intellectualization
listening attentively while looking at the client as he describes his feelings - correct answer
✔✔A client is upset about the breakup of his marriage. He feels distraught and does not think
that he will ever have another intimate relationship. In this situation, the social worker can best
demonstrate empathy by:
a. Discussing similar events in the social worker's life that have been resolved successfully
b. Telling the client that many people in this situation feel similarly
c. Listening attentively while looking at the client as he describes his feelings
d. Helping the client to find ways to cope with his emotions during this difficult time
symbolic interactionism - correct answer ✔✔A client is upset because a boy whom she recently
kissed broke up with her. The client states that she does not understand why the breakup
occurred, as the kiss indicated that he has strong feelings toward her. The SOWO explains that
kissing may not have the same meaning for the boy. The social worker's statement is rooted in
which theoretical perspective?
a. Self-psychology
b. Symbolic interactionism
c. Operant conditioning
,d. Object relations
displacement - correct answer ✔✔A child who is receiving services from a child protection
agency due to physical abuse is referred to a school social worker because of bullying behavior.
In the last month, the child has hit several of his peers while in school. The child is MOST likely
using which defense mechanism?
a. Compensation
b. Incorporation
c. Rationalization
d. Displacement
explore clients' relationships with other people and entities in their environments - correct
answer ✔✔Ecomaps are BEST defined as visual tools to:
a. Understand where natural resources are scarce and conversation must occur
b. Explore clients' relationships with other people and entities in their environments
c. Guide environmental justice advocacy efforts of the micro, mezzo, and macro levels
d. Show sources of power within all types of environmental systems
discuss the implications of the testing for him and his family - correct answer ✔✔A client in his
early 20s meets with a social worker to discuss his decision to have predictive testing for
Huntington's disease, which occurs later in life. It is not curable, but he thinks it will be useful in
making decisions about getting married and starting a family. He states that he does not want
anyone to have to care for him so he would not get married or have children if it is found that
he will eventually develop the disease. In order to best assist the client, the social worker
should:
a. Discourage him from undergoing testing because marrying and having children are important
life tasks
b. Ask him about his risk factors so that a better recommendation about testing can be made
c. Encourage testing so that he can make informed choices now and in the future
d. Discuss the implications of the testing for him and his family
,ethnicity - correct answer ✔✔A client who is discriminated against due to his or her national
origin and/or culture is being judged based on:
a. Nondominant ancestry
b. Race
c. Ethnicity
d. Minority status
stay in relationships with their perpetrators - correct answer ✔✔Trauma bonding helps to
explain why victims of abuse:
a. Stay in relationships with their perpetrators
b. Benefits from providing mutual support to one another
c. Are likely to be abusers themselves
d. Experience long-term psychological issues
realizing one's potential through personal growth and peak experiences - correct answer
✔✔Self-actualization is BEST defined as:
a. Practicing mindfulness and staying in the moment by concentrating on tasks at hand
b. Monitoring progress toward goal attainment
c. Understanding the consequences of one's actions when engaging in maladaptive behavior
d. Realizing one's potential through personal growth and peak experiences
acknowledge that people are basically good and have free will to make themselves better -
correct answer ✔✔Social workers who use a humanistic approach:
a. Promote scientific inquiry based in sound qualitative research methods
b. Value of the study of animals as knowledge generated can be applied to human behavior
c. Acknowledge that people are basically good and have free will to make themselves better
, d. View objective reality as more important than subjective perception and understanding
5 years - correct answer ✔✔At what age does Freud state that the superego begins to emerge?
a. 6 months
b. 5 years
c. 16 years
d. 10 years
the ability of a child to understand that objects exist even if they cannot directly be sensed -
correct answer ✔✔Object permanence is BEST defined as:
a. The need for a child to live in a stable home with caregivers who are consistent role models
b. A behavioral technique used with a child to reinforce positive actions
c. The ability of a child to understand that objects exist even if they cannot directly be sensed
d. The belief that change will not occur in a child until the rewards of making the modification
exceed the risks
obedience and punishment - correct answer ✔✔A young child states that he did not engage in a
behavior as he "did not want to get in trouble." This child is MOST likely in which stage of moral
development?
a. Maintaining social order
b. Obedience and punishment
c. Social contract and individual rights
d. Universal principles
ecomap - correct answer ✔✔A social worker receives a referral for a family that is having
trouble meeting its basic needs. During the assessment, the social worker wants to identify
external supports that may be available to assist this family. In order to learn about family
members' relationships with community resources, the social worker should complete a(n):
Review and Exam Preparation Material)
cognitive dissonance - correct answer ✔✔Upon intake, a client who professes to be "health
conscious" reports that she smokes cigarettes. When asked by the SOWO if she is aware of
health risks associated with smoking, the client states that "the reports are filled with
misinformation and the hazards are not that great." The client's assertion MOST likely results
from:
a. Cognitive dissonance
b. Metacommunication
c. Displacement
d. Intellectualization
listening attentively while looking at the client as he describes his feelings - correct answer
✔✔A client is upset about the breakup of his marriage. He feels distraught and does not think
that he will ever have another intimate relationship. In this situation, the social worker can best
demonstrate empathy by:
a. Discussing similar events in the social worker's life that have been resolved successfully
b. Telling the client that many people in this situation feel similarly
c. Listening attentively while looking at the client as he describes his feelings
d. Helping the client to find ways to cope with his emotions during this difficult time
symbolic interactionism - correct answer ✔✔A client is upset because a boy whom she recently
kissed broke up with her. The client states that she does not understand why the breakup
occurred, as the kiss indicated that he has strong feelings toward her. The SOWO explains that
kissing may not have the same meaning for the boy. The social worker's statement is rooted in
which theoretical perspective?
a. Self-psychology
b. Symbolic interactionism
c. Operant conditioning
,d. Object relations
displacement - correct answer ✔✔A child who is receiving services from a child protection
agency due to physical abuse is referred to a school social worker because of bullying behavior.
In the last month, the child has hit several of his peers while in school. The child is MOST likely
using which defense mechanism?
a. Compensation
b. Incorporation
c. Rationalization
d. Displacement
explore clients' relationships with other people and entities in their environments - correct
answer ✔✔Ecomaps are BEST defined as visual tools to:
a. Understand where natural resources are scarce and conversation must occur
b. Explore clients' relationships with other people and entities in their environments
c. Guide environmental justice advocacy efforts of the micro, mezzo, and macro levels
d. Show sources of power within all types of environmental systems
discuss the implications of the testing for him and his family - correct answer ✔✔A client in his
early 20s meets with a social worker to discuss his decision to have predictive testing for
Huntington's disease, which occurs later in life. It is not curable, but he thinks it will be useful in
making decisions about getting married and starting a family. He states that he does not want
anyone to have to care for him so he would not get married or have children if it is found that
he will eventually develop the disease. In order to best assist the client, the social worker
should:
a. Discourage him from undergoing testing because marrying and having children are important
life tasks
b. Ask him about his risk factors so that a better recommendation about testing can be made
c. Encourage testing so that he can make informed choices now and in the future
d. Discuss the implications of the testing for him and his family
,ethnicity - correct answer ✔✔A client who is discriminated against due to his or her national
origin and/or culture is being judged based on:
a. Nondominant ancestry
b. Race
c. Ethnicity
d. Minority status
stay in relationships with their perpetrators - correct answer ✔✔Trauma bonding helps to
explain why victims of abuse:
a. Stay in relationships with their perpetrators
b. Benefits from providing mutual support to one another
c. Are likely to be abusers themselves
d. Experience long-term psychological issues
realizing one's potential through personal growth and peak experiences - correct answer
✔✔Self-actualization is BEST defined as:
a. Practicing mindfulness and staying in the moment by concentrating on tasks at hand
b. Monitoring progress toward goal attainment
c. Understanding the consequences of one's actions when engaging in maladaptive behavior
d. Realizing one's potential through personal growth and peak experiences
acknowledge that people are basically good and have free will to make themselves better -
correct answer ✔✔Social workers who use a humanistic approach:
a. Promote scientific inquiry based in sound qualitative research methods
b. Value of the study of animals as knowledge generated can be applied to human behavior
c. Acknowledge that people are basically good and have free will to make themselves better
, d. View objective reality as more important than subjective perception and understanding
5 years - correct answer ✔✔At what age does Freud state that the superego begins to emerge?
a. 6 months
b. 5 years
c. 16 years
d. 10 years
the ability of a child to understand that objects exist even if they cannot directly be sensed -
correct answer ✔✔Object permanence is BEST defined as:
a. The need for a child to live in a stable home with caregivers who are consistent role models
b. A behavioral technique used with a child to reinforce positive actions
c. The ability of a child to understand that objects exist even if they cannot directly be sensed
d. The belief that change will not occur in a child until the rewards of making the modification
exceed the risks
obedience and punishment - correct answer ✔✔A young child states that he did not engage in a
behavior as he "did not want to get in trouble." This child is MOST likely in which stage of moral
development?
a. Maintaining social order
b. Obedience and punishment
c. Social contract and individual rights
d. Universal principles
ecomap - correct answer ✔✔A social worker receives a referral for a family that is having
trouble meeting its basic needs. During the assessment, the social worker wants to identify
external supports that may be available to assist this family. In order to learn about family
members' relationships with community resources, the social worker should complete a(n):
