LMSW Practice Exams Flashcards
A hospital social worker meets with a man whose wife was diagnosed with cancer one month ago. The man has been told that his wife’s prognosis is very poor. He came to the hospital emergency room tonight complaining of acute pain. The doctors treated his pain with medication and then referred him to the social worker because he could not stop crying. The social worker believes that the man is experiencing grief. In particular, this man is most likely experiencing which of the following?
A. Anniversary grief
B. Acute grief
C. Anticipatory grief
D. Dual grief
C. Anticipatory grief
Grief generally refers to the intense emotional suffering brought on by the loss of or separation from someone or something that is deeply loved. Given this patient’s history, Choice C is the best choice. Anticipatory grief is triggered by the realization that a significant loss will occur in the near future. The diagnosis of a terminal illness in a loved on (or in oneself) may precipitate anticipatory grief.
A social worker discovers that his client cannot afford safe housing or adequate food. In the wintertime, the client has no heat. In other words, the client is having difficulty meeting her:
A. Expressed needs
B. Safety and security needs
C. Gender role obligations
D. Basic needs
D. Basic needs
The term “basic needs” refers to the items that are considered to be essential for the maintenance of a person’s well-being. These items include adequate food, clean water, shelter, clothing, heating, fuel, and security from bodily harm.
A social worker is working in individual therapy with a client whose culture differs from her own. The client immigrated to the U.S. from Morocco one year ago. In order to facilitate her ability to work effectively with this client, the social worker attends to various characteristics of the client’s communication, how they differ from hers, and how this may affect their interactions. If the social worker were attending to “paralanguage,” she would be concerned with which of the following?
A. Personal and interpersonal space
B. Facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and other bodily movements
C. Loudness of voice, silence, rate of speech, and other vocal cues
D. Culturally shared meanings for certain words and phrases
C. Loudness of voice, silence, rate of speech, and other vocal cues
Paralanguage refers to vocal cues (other than language itself) that are used to communicate meaning.
A social worker’s client reports spending many hours a dat on the internet playing interactive games. The client was laid off from his job six months ago but has recently stopped looking for work. He spends his time online instead. He’s come in because his wife is fed up with his behavior. He says he loves playing, but that he sometimes feels “driven” to do it and this worries him sometimes. The social worker suspects that the client has developed a behavioral addiction. Which of the following is most true about behavioral addiction?
A. The term means the same as compulsion
B. By definition, the behaviors associated with behavioral addiction are ego-syntonic
C. Its development follows a progression similar to that of drug dependence
D. In contrast to drug addiction, it is not associated with withdrawal symptoms
C. Its development follows a progression similar to that of drug dependence
The term “behavioral addiction” is used to refer to a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in a specific activity, despite harmful consequences, as identified by the person himself, to his physical health, psychological or emotional well-being, and/or social functioning. As Choice C says, the development of behavioral addictions appears to follow a progression similar to that of drug dependence: First, the person experiences pleasure in association with a behavior and seeks that behavior out, initially as a way of enhancing his experience of life, and, later, as a way of coping with stress. The process of seeking and engaging in the behavior then becomes more frequent and ritualized, until it becomes a significant part of the person’s daily life. When the person is addicted, he experiences urges or cravings to engage in the behavior, which intensifies until he carries out the behavior again, usually feeling relief and elation. Negative consequences of the behavior may occur in many areas of the person’s life, but the person persists with the behavior in spite of this.
The client is an immigrant from Indonesia who has sought help from a social worker because he misses his family back home. The social worker’s assessment indicates that the client i experiencing severe psychological symptoms at this time. The “social displacement syndrome” described by Tynhurst (1977) would predict that which of the following is true about this client?
A. He has just recently arrived in the U.S.
B. He arrived in the U.S. about 6 months ago
C. He arrived in the U.S. about 2 years ago
D. He has been in the U.S. for about 10 years
C. He arrived in the U.S. about 2 years ago
Research in the U.S. on the adjustment of immigrants and refugees has generally supported the “social displacement syndrome” described by Tynhurst (1977). The Social displacement syndrome predicts that immigrants ad refugees initially experience elation and optimism when they arrive in the U.S., but that this is followed by a period of frustration, depression, and confusion. Although there is a great deal of individual variation, the highest rates of psychiatric disorders among immigrants and refugees are generally observed somewhere between the end of the first year and the third year.
