Assessment in Social Work Practice Flashcards
Acculturation
The cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture. Includes the degree to which a member of a culturally diverse group within a society accepts and adheres to the behaviors, values, attitudes, etc. of his own group and the dominant (majority) group. Contemporary models of acculturation view it as an ongoing process and emphasize that individuals can take on the values, attitudes, and behaviors of their new culture without abandoning those of their indigenous culture
Beck Depression Inventory-II
Measure of the depth of a person’s depression (the severity of his complaints, symptoms, and concerns). May be used with individuals age 13 and older with at least an 8th-grade reading level
Direct assessment of Suicide
Involves questioning a client directly about his intent to commit suicide with an emphasis on three indicators that directly suggest an elevated and more imminent risk of a suicide attempt - intent, plan and means. Risk to life is highest when a client has both a concrete, lethal suicide plan and the means available to carry it out.
Emotion-Focused Coping Vs. Problem-Focused Coping
Emotion-focused coping is used to reduce one’s emotional response to stress, while problem-focused coping is used to deal directly with the source of stress. Usually a person must deal with his emotional reactions before moving on to problem-solving, but emotion-focused and task-focused coping often occur simultaneously
HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy)
Term used to describe a medication regimen taken by patients with HIV/AIDS that includes combination of anti-HIV drugs from at least two of the main classes. This combination helps combat new resistant strains of the virus that emerge as HIV makes copies of itself and also decreases the rate of opportunistic infections
Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III)
Self-report inventory used to assess DSM-5 related disorders: 15 personality scales and 10 clinical syndrome scales. Is appropriate for individuals age 18 and over with at least an 8th-grade reading comprehension level. For adolescents (ages 13 to 19) whose reading ability is at or above the 6th-grade level, the MACI is available
Person-In-Environment (PIE) System
A diagnostic taxonomy used to describe, classify, and code problems in adult social functioning. Problems are grouped into four factors:
- Problems in social role functioning
- Problems in the environment
- Mental health problems
- Physical health problems
Reciprocal Empathic Responding
A form of empathic responding used to build trust and understanding. At the reciprocal level, the social worker’s verbal and nonverbal responses convey understanding, but are more or less interchangeable with the client’s basic messages: They accurately reflect factual aspects of the client’s messages and his surface feelings
Role Theory
Set of concepts that define how the behaviors of individuals are influenced by the different social positions they hold and the expectations that accompany those positions
Tardive Dyskinesia
Potentially irreversible extrapyramidal side-effect associated with long-term use of a first-generation (traditional) antipsychotic drug. Symptoms include rhythmical, and trunk (similar to Huntington’s chorea). In some cases, symptoms are alleviated by a GABA agonist or by gradual withdrawal of the drugs
Active Listening
Helpful skill that requires social workers to, first, attend to a client’s verbal and nonverbal messages and , then, reflect back what they have heard so that the client will know that his message has been understood accurately. Active listening skills include using encouragers, clarification, paraphrase, reflection, and summarization, and exploring silences
Case Formulations
Used to describe what the client and his situation are like, to explain why they are the way they are, and to provide a basis for intervention planning. Concerned with not only naming the client’s problem but also understanding the problem within the context of the client’s life. The categories used to organize information for use formulations usually include
a. symptoms and problems
b. precipitating stressors or events
c. predisposing life events or stressors, and
d. a mechanism that links the 1st three categories together and offers an explanation of the precipitants and maintaining influences of the client’s problems
Disengagement Vs. Enmeshment
With disengagement, boundaries are too rigid, not allowing adequate communication between subsystems; and with enmeshment, boundaries are overly diffuse, allowing too much communication with other subsystems. In contrast, healthy boundaries are optimally permeable: They protect the integrity of a subsystem while also allowing interaction between subsystems and can adapt to the changing needs of the family system
Empathic Communication
A helping skill that involves first, empathic recognition of the client’s feelings, and then, demonstrating through accurate reflection of those feelings one’s understanding of the client’s inner experiencing
Informational Interview
Social work interview used to obtain data for a social history in order to facilitate appropriate decisions about the kinds of services the social worker or agency should offer a client. Rather than collecting comprehensive information about a client’s life history, the worker focuses on obtaining background information related to the problem, including objective facts and subjective feelings and attitudes
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2)
For adults. Self-report personality test that reports an examinee’s performance in terms of clinical scales and validity scales. Although originally intended as a tool for deriving psychiatric diagnoses, is now more commonly interpreted in terms of score profiles to derive information about an examinee’s personality characteristics. For adolescents (ages 14 to 18), the MMPI-A is available
Person-in-Environment Theory
PIE theory assumes that human problems have their roots in both individual and situational factors and that understanding and treating human problems requires a dual focus on the individual and environmental forces
Reflection (of Content and Feeling)
An active listening skill that involves restating or repeating something a client has just said with an emphasis on the part of the message that is most helpful. Its key purpose is to build understanding. In reflecting content, a social worker considers what elements of a client’s message are most likely to promote achievement of the interview’s goals and then uses that content, verbatim, a key word or phrase from the client’s message. In reflecting feeling, a social worker expresses the emotional component of the client’s: Rather than responding to only the client’s words, the worker also infers from those words, other verbal cues, and nonverbal cues what the client is feeling about the information being disclosed.
Self-Monitoring (Behavior Therapy)
Observational technique in which a client is asked to record information about the frequency and conditions surrounding a target behavior; the client may also be instructed to keep a journal of other important information such as his feelings and thoughts before, during, and after each occurrence of the behavior and the variables that influence it so that an appropriate intervention strategy can be developed and the effects of the intervention can be evaluated
Validity
The usefulness of a test - i.e., the extent to which a test measures what it purports to measure
Anhedonia
An inability to feel joy or express many pleasurable emotions
Confabulation
Fabrication of experiences or situations in order to fill in and cover up gaps in memory
Dual Perspective Worksheet
Assessment tool used to depict the location of supports and barriers or problems that affect a client’s interactions with his social environment. Allows you and the client to identify areas of strength that might be resources for change and areas that need to be changed. Also helps you determine whether your intervention should target elements of the client’s nurturing environment, sustaining environment, or both
Fact-Gathering Interview
Interview conducted when a client first contacts an agency; involves gathering predetermined and specific information from the client
Life Cycle Matrix
Assessment tool used to graphically depict the developmental stage of all individuals in a household
Neuropsychological Tests
Used when brain degeneration or damage is suspected and to determine the nature of the impairment produced by brain pathology
Problem System
The client, other people, and elements in the client’s problem situation. Consists of three systems that interact to produce and maintain human problems: the intrapersonal system (biophysical, emotional, psychological) the interpersonal system (family, other relationships) and the environmental system (support system, resources)
Role Conception
An individual’s own beliefs and assumptions about how he is supposed to behave in a particular social conform to the role expectations defined by others and the wider society
Social Functioning
A person’s motivation, capacity, and opportunity to
a. meet his basic needs (including performing tasks necessary for daily living such as obtaining food, shelter, and transportation) and
b. perform his major social roles as defined by his community and culture. Information about a client’s need-meeting activities and social role performance provides valuable information about his current level of social functioning, including strengths and deficits
Warm-up Period
A brief period of “small talk” that may be used at the beginning of an interview to help a client feel more comfortable before he begins self-disclosing. Is most appropriate to use when a client appears resistant or defensive and is also useful with many adolescent clients