Social Work Exam Study Guide (Made 2022)

Note for Those Who are Studying + General Info *PLEASE READ*

Hi everyone, I’m Rachel 🥰 and I’m the owner of this document! I want to start by congratulating you on making it this far! I’m so excited for all of you as you work towards becoming social workers. Remember that your score does not reflect your self-worth or your potential in this field. You’re here just to pass the exam! Also connect with me on linkedin, I love talking about my work and I am happy to answer any questions!!

If you come across any new information relevant to the exam or if there’s something important I might have missed, please don’t hesitate to suggest an edit. (For the most part) I’ve started to note when a commenter has recommended an edit for transparency purposes (“Commenter’s Contribution”).

I am happy to add to what I have, create a whole new section if necessary, and/or add any resources that you think may be helpful (i.e. practice exam questions, youtubers who have been helpful to you, etc.) If you would like to make an edit and/or add something, please email me @ racheljuliewolk@gmail.com. Unfortunately, too many people are messing up the formatting and I am not able to be on top of this document 24/7, so I am taking away editing/commenting access. Sorry for the inconvenience! I don’t want you to have to waste your money when social work school is already stupidly expensive and you’re all working so hard at your internships without pay.

I apologize for my delay in responding to emails, I have been extremely busy! I am going to try and stay more on top of it!

Here is a link that you can make a copy to edit for yourself. Please do not make any edits on the page - this is for those who want to print/copy to their own google doc: Copy of Document- Edit Access Open 

Table of Contents

Note for Those Who are Studying + General Info *PLEASE READ*        0

Part I: Mnemonics: How to Answer Questions        3

Part II: Definitions        6

Part III: Human Development (Important Theorists)        7

Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development        7

Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory        7

Kohlberg’s Moral Development        8

Freud’s Psychosexual Development        8

Neo-Freudian        9

Margaret Mahler Object Relations Theory        9

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs        11

Part IV: Behavioral Therapy        11

Behaviorism        11

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy        12

Part V: Family and Group Therapy        12

Parenting Styles        12

Family Therapy        13

Group Work        13

Part VI: The Intervention Process        15

Phases of Intervention/Problem-Solving Process        15

Stages of Change        15

Verbal & Nonverbal Communication        15

Defense Mechanisms        15

Part VII: DSM-5 and Medication        16

Terms to Know        17

Diagnostic Criteria for Mental Disorders        17

Diagnostic Criteria for Personality Disorders        22

Medications        23

● Helpful example of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention        25

Part VIII: Organizational Theories        25

Classical        25

Neoclassical        26

Modern        26

Part IX: Community Organizing        26

SW in the Community        26

Four Models of Community Organization        26

Locality Development        26

Social Action        27

Social Reform        27

Community-Based Decision Making        27

Fiscal Management        27

Program Evaluation        27

Part X: Practice Roles and Location Specific Responsibilities        28

Social Work Practice Roles        28

Location Specific Responsibilities        28

Part XI: Research        29

Types of Research        29

Types of Experimental Designs        29

Reliability and Validity        30

Data Collection and Analysis Methods        31

Unit XII:  Ethics        31

The Code of Ethics        31

Solving an Ethical Dilemma        33

Part XIII:  Supervision        33

Commenter’s Note: For those taking the exams in the spring of 2025, the exams have been switched from PSI to Pearson VUE. Instead of taking the exams all in one go, the exam will be split into two sections with a mandatory 10 minute break. When you have submitted the first section of the exams, you cannot go back to edit your answers. There are no changes to the grading, scheduling process, or examination fees. Please check the new ASWB exam guide for more information and what to expect for test day. Good luck everyone! The questions are still multiple choice and there are a mix of 3-4 answer choices in the questions.

Part I: Mnemonics: How to Answer Questions

For almost every single question, the most important thing to remember is to ASSESS BEFORE ACTION!!! NEVER make assumptions/ fill in the gaps.

• Example questions from the practice exam:

• Empty bottles of alcohol sitting around the house during a house visit. → ask the client.
• Client refuses services because it’s “God’s Will” → explore use of religion.
• Teacher tells SW that a child is coming to school with messy clothing and occasional bruises → talk to student  

• IF however, we know clearly that there is abuse/neglect (i.e. parents tell SW that they believe alcohol has health benefits and they allow children to get drunk) there is no need for further assessment. Only assess when things are ominous or the SW has not had direct conversation with the client.

Commenter’s Note: Something to note is that clients who have recently been released from an involuntary hospitalization are at increased risk for suicide. They have been stabilized by treatment and now have the energy to follow through with their plan. Always complete Suicide/Safety assessment following release.

• Red flags for suicide include: Giving away valued possessions. Example: An elderly client who recently lost his wife and is coming to you for treatment attempts to gift you with a painting. Inquire about the significance of the item and reason behind giving it away.

Part II: Definitions

Things that come up that I didn’t fit into any other section

• Gestalt Therapy: that change occurs through increased awareness of the here-and-now experience. It is a therapy that focuses on what is happening in the moment, both within the client and the therapist. Empty chair technique is used.

• They do  not analyze how early childhood relationships impact current relational stressors.

• SOAP Format: Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan
• ABC Format:  Antecedent, behavior, consequence
• Globalization: interconnectedness of persons across the world.
• Ombudsperson: A person who works for the government and who investigates citizen rights complaints made about the government
• Wraparound approach/services: intensive, individualized care management process for youths with serious or complex needs. (seen in: community based supports, CPS support, etc.)
• Comorbid: existing with or at the same time
• Contraindicated: not recommended or safe to use
• Postmorbid: subsequent to the onset of an illness
• Premorbid: prior to the onset of an illness

Part III: Human Development (Important Theorists)

Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development

(1) I used this to memorize  Another Recommendation from Commenter (2)

Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory

Kohlberg’s Moral Development

Freud’s Psychosexual Development

Only Animals Play Long Games

Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious, Id, ego, superego

• Latent: Alternate meaning, interpretation
• Manifest: Literal subject matter

Neo-Freudian

• Alfred Adler’s Individual psychology: sum of the person are greater than the parts, main motivations for human behavior are not sexual or aggressive urges, but striving for perfection.
• Self Psychology: Defines the self as the central organizing and motivating force in personality.

• As a result of receiving empathic responses from early caretakers (self-objects), child’s needs are met & child develops strong sense of selfhood
• Objective: help a client develop a greater sense of self-cohesion. Through therapeutic regression, a client reexperiences frustrated self-object needs.
• Mirroring (others serve as praise → internalizes self & value), Idealization (e.g. looking up to parent), and Twinship/Twinning (child needs alter ego for sense of belonging – e.g. superhero, mermaids) are all important aspects of child’s sense of self.

• Ego Psychology: rational, conscious process of ego in the here and now, addresses reality testing (perception of situation), coping abilities, and the capacity for relation with others

Margaret Mahler Object Relations Theory

Object= Individual, relations= Early attachments create relationship skills.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

1. Physiological Needs- Food, water, shelter, sleep
2. Safety Needs- Protection from elements/danger
3. Social Needs- Love & Belongingness; friendship, intimacy, affection)
4. Esteem Needs- Self-respect & respect from others
5. Self-Actualization- Realizing personal potential
6. Self Transcendence

Part IV: Behavioral Therapy

Questions will emphasize that behavioral therapies do not focus on the “why,” only on observable behaviors.

Behaviorism

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov) – Associate an involuntary response and a stimulus Video

Contribution from edits: There is always the original example: dogs+food (unconditioned stimulus or US)=salivation (unconditioned response or UR). Pavlov added (paired) the ringing of a bell(neutral stimulus or NS) every time he fed the dogs. After several pairings (associations) of the bell with the mealtimes, the bell (now a conditioned stimulus or CS) elicited salivation (a conditioned response or CR) when the bell was rung, even in the absence of food. Another example would be coffee in the morning. Coffee (US) and its stimulating effects can cause someone to feel more alert (UR). But coffee also has a distinct aroma (NS). After the smell of coffee is paired several times with the actual drinking of coffee, a person can feel more alert (CR) just by smelling coffee, even without drinking it.  

• In Vivo Desensitization: pairing & moving through hierarchy of anxiety (least to most anxiety-provoking situations); takes place in “real” life.
• Systematic Desensitization: anxiety-producing stimulus is paired with relaxation-producing response so that eventually an anxiety-producing stimulus produces a relaxation response.
• Extinction: withholding a reinforcer that normally follows a behavior; fails to produce reinforcement behavior cease.

Operant Conditioning (Skinner) – behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

• Positive Reinforcement, Positive Punishment, Negative Reinforcement, and Negative Punishment.
• Antecedent: the events, action, or circumstances that occur before a behavior.
• Consequences: The action or response that follows the behavior.
• Reinforcement: increases behavior

• Positive Reinforcement: Method of encouraging desired behaviors by presenting a pleasant stimulus after the behavior occurs
• Negative Reinforcement: Method of encouraging desired behaviors by removing an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus

• Punishment: decreases behavior

• Positive Punishment: Adding an aversive stimulus following an unwanted behavior to decrease the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.
• Negative Punishment: Removing a desirable stimulus (like a privilege or reward) following a behavior, leading to a decrease in the likelihood of that behavior occurring in the future

• Shaping: method used to train a new behavior by prompting & reinforcing successive approximations of the desired behavior

Bandura: Social learning theory, learning is obtained between people and their environment and their interactions and observations in social contexts; SWs establish opportunities for conversation & participation to occur

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

 Goal is to change patterns of thinking or behavior that are responsible for clients’ difficulties

• Rational Emotive Therapy (RET): argument, persuasion, and rational reevaluation to change self-defeating beliefs
• Cognitive Restructuring: identifying dysfunctional beliefs and patterns of thought; rewarding success
• Partializing Techniques: Breaking down complex issues into simpler ones to make it less overwhelming,*use Hierarchy of needs

• Example from test question: SW meets with an adolescent client who wants to run away from home. They give several reasons for this desire. The best technique for the SW to use is partialization to gain a better understanding of the individual elements that are leading to the desire to run away.

• Psychoeducation Methods: Provide clients with information necessary to make informed decisions
• Gottman Method: Couples therapy approach, Focuses on conflicting verbal communication in order to increase intimacy, respect, & affection, Focused on these behaviors: Criticism, Defensiveness, Contempt and Stonewalling.

Part V: Family and Group Therapy

Family Therapy

NOTE: in the case of domestic abuse, social workers should not utilize couples/family therapy  

Group Work

Part VI: The Intervention Process

Phases of Intervention/Problem-Solving Process

• Engagement, Assessment, Planning, Treatment/Intervention, Evaluation, Termination

Stages of Change

Always aim to use a strengths based perspective.

• Precontemplation: client unaware, unable, and/or unwilling to change; arguing, interrupting, denial, or ignoring the problem; may not attend appointments, not agree to change; denial, ignorance of problem – SW should establish rapport, acknowledge resistance, keep conversations informal, engage clients, and acknowledge their feelings, concerns, etc.
• Contemplation: client is ambivalent or uncertain regarding behavior change; due to this, their behaviors are unpredictable; client may be willing to look at pros and cons of behavior change, but is not committed to working towards it; ambivalence, conflicted emotion
• Preparation: experimenting with small changes, collecting information about change
• Action, Maintenance, Relapse  can lead to feelings of frustration and failure

Verbal & Nonverbal Communication

• Always respond empathetically to a client’s concerns
• Reflection: acknowledging clients feelings
• Exploring SILENCE: being attentive and remaining silent, especially when the client is silent.
• Partilization: breaking up problems into small, more feasible parts.
• Clarification: asking the client questions to understand what they are saying
• Confrontation: challenged an established client to think about maladaptive behaviors. Can be used with clients with addictions, perpetrator, and/or are resistant to treatment – especially ego-syntonic disorders such as anorexia.
• Active Listening: commenting on clients’ statements, open-ended questions, etc.

• Interpretation: pulling together patterns of behavior to get a new understanding
• Reframing/Relabeling: stating problem in a different way so a client can see possible solutions
• Universalization: the generalization or normalization of behavior.

Defense Mechanisms

• Projection: My internal negative beliefs are thrown on you. e.g.  a cheating spouse who suspects their partner is being unfaithful.

• Opposite is Introjection: internalizes the ideas or voices of other people. e.g. A teacher scolds the classroom for not doing the work properly and Beth assumes they're talking primarily to her. (Edit from commenter, lmk if you all agree: this seems more like personalization... If the teacher told her that little girls are lazy and stupid and she started to believe that perhaps this would be a more apt example…)

• Projective Identification: Borderline Personality Disorder; unconsciously perceiving others’ behavior as a reflection of identity

• PI can be a sign of borderline  personality organization, but PI can happen to anyone
• Projection of life experiences of person X onto person Y; person Y identifies with the projection and begins to act in manner aligned with the projection

• Displacement: Anger/negative beliefs about a situation/person are acted out on another, lesser/more vulnerable person/thing. e.g. Amanda was angry at her boss for adding more to her workload, but kept her composure. Later that evening, Amanda shouts at her husband at minor inconveniences.
• Sublimation: potentially maladaptive feelings or behaviors are diverted into socially acceptable, adaptive channels e.g. person with angry feelings channels them into athletics
• Reaction Formation: acting opposite (in affect, ideas, attitudes, or behaviors) e.g. In therapy, Mark states that his brother is a selfish man who angers him constantly. Later in the session, the therapist hears that Mark recently bought his brother a new shirt as a gift and is planning on going over for dinner that night.
• Compensation: enables one to make up for real or fancied deficiencies e.g. a short man embarrassed by his height becomes an aggressive, “manly man.”
• Undoing: Symbolically negating or reversing unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or actions with words or actions.
• Identification: an individual, to varying degrees, makes himself or herself like someone else;  “Identification with the aggressor” is very common. e.g. A son who was abused by his father is a known bully at his school.
• Decompensation: deterioration of existing defenses
• Devaluation: BPD; person attributes exaggerated negative qualities to self or another
• Splitting; BPD; polarized views of self and others arise due to intolerable conflicting emotions. “All bad” or “all good.”
• Intellectualization: avoids emotions by focusing on facts & logic
• Some other defense mechanisms include: Repression, Denial, Dissociation

Part VII: DSM-5 and Medication

• The DSM-5 replaced the Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) categories with two options

• Other Specified Disorder: specify the reason that the criteria for a specific disorder are not met
• Unspecified Disorder: option to forgo specification.

Terms to Know

• WHODAS 2.0: DSM assessment to help SW determine assistance needed in functional life domains.
• Biopsychosocial Assessments
• Mental Status Exam: quick assessment of current functioning, usually based on: appearance, orientation (awareness of time/place, etc.), speech pattern, affect/mood, impulsive/potential for harm, judgment/insight, thought processes/reality testing, intellectual functioning/memory – in line with: ASSESS BEFORE ACTION

 Diagnostic Criteria for Mental Disorders

Diagnostic Criteria for Personality Disorders

Develop and are present during early childhood- many times as a result of trauma.

Medications

While there are many medications that can be used, these are by far the most important ones to know – I don’t recommend wasting your time memorizing any of the others.

• When medical compliance is an issue: Develop/implement behavioral programs. This is the most likely used approach to help a client achieve long term optimal functioning. This is also the least restrictive action (instead of, for example, hiring a visiting nurse, going inpatient, or admitting to a day treatment center… these may be needed, but should never be the first line of defense)

• Helpful example of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention

• Conmmenter’s contribution: medications ending in "pam" are most likely antianxiety, while those ending in "pram" are most likely antidepressants

Part VIII: Organizational Theories

1. Primary intervention: a program that seeks to stop problems before they start.
2. Secondary intervention: locating an at-risk group and providing them services before they become involved in trouble.

1. Commentor’s Contribution: Immediate response after incident or exposure has occurred. Meant to minimize effects and deal with short term consequences.

3. Tertiary intervention: interventions which occur after the problem in an attempt to keep it from happening again or ​​ameliorating the problem to reduce the bad effects are tertiary prevention programs.

Classical

• Scientific Management Theory, Weber’s Bureaucratic Theory, Administrative Theory
• Attempts to explain people’s motivation to work strictly as a function of economic reward
• Believes there is one way to do it (uniformity under the guise of stability) – Reward/Punishment centered

Neoclassical

• Human Relations Theory
• Authoritarian; Concerned with human needs and thus emphasizes the importance of cohesive work groups, participatory leadership, and open communication.

Modern

• Systems, Sociotechnical, Contingency/Situational Approach        
• Considers the organizations as a system composed of a set of interrelated, mutually dependent subsystems
• Inner and outer systems all affect the outcome/ needs of the individual. “person-in-environment” (PIE)

Part IX: Community Organizing

SW in the Community

• Prioritize self determination + collective power; works with communities to balance power, challenge government, corporations, and other power-holding institutions
• always try to place the power in the hands of the people; however, the more vulnerable the population, the more we may need to step in.
• Ethics Audit: part of implementing a comprehensive risk management strategy, it examines risks by appointing a committee, reviewing agency documentation, interviewing staff, and more. Assessing risk levels; preparing action plans; monitoring policy implementation.
• Sources of Power: Coercive (punishment), reward, expert (knowledge), referent (identification with others who are in power),  legitimate and informational

Four Models of Community Organization

Note: sharing leadership is very effective with groups

Locality Development

• common/local level (neighborhood)
• SW role as enabler (aka empower)  and broker (mediates and negotiates, links community with services)
• Keywords: neighborhood association, residents, community, schools, community, mental health clinics, settle houses

Social Planning

• group or community decides its goals & strategies relating to societal issues; SW plans “with” rather than “for” community members
•  SW as expert

Social Action

• Disadvantaged communities
• Organizing a task force is the FIRST step in social action and involves those affected in addressing the issue to promote solutions (this is in line with the concept of ASSESS BEFORE ACTION).
• Keywords: landlords, tenant issues, women's rights movement, homeless, tenant association

Social Reform

• Form coalitions with 2 or more existing organizations
• SW as organizer

Community-Based Decision Making

• Orientation Stage: community members meet for the first time and start to get to know each other
• Conflict Stage: disputes, little fights, and arguments may occur; these conflicts are eventually worked out
• Emergence Stage: community members begin to see and agree on a course of action
• Reinforcement Stage: community members finally make a decision and justify why it was correct

Fiscal Management

• The executive or board of directors is concerned with funding, NOT immediate staff issues
• Planning: the short- & long-term strategies used to ensure financial stability
• Acquisition: gather resources through fundraising, grant writing, contractual arrangements, fees, merchandise, etc.
• Allocation: the distribution of resources internally (i.e. to specific departments) or externally (i.e. contracting outside consultants)
• Internal Control: the establishment of standardized policies/procedures relating to all transactions & events involving monetary items
• Recording/Reporting: use of a system to list & classify all transactions of a fiscal nature
• Evaluating: periodic review of financial activities to assess their efficiency & effectiveness

Program Evaluation

• Cost-Benefit Analysis: determines the financial costs of operating a program as compared with the fiscal benefits of its outcomes
• Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: similar to Cost-Benefit Analysis, but considers the benefits that are not measured in monetary terms, such as illnesses prevented or lives saved Ex: calculating the cost of the program and comparing it to alternate means of providing patient services
• Outcome Assessment: the process of determining whether a program has achieved its intended goals

Part X: Practice Roles and Location Specific Responsibilities

Social Work Practice Roles

• Advocate: champion the rights of others with the goal of empowering the client system being served; speak on behalf of clients when they are unable to do so/others will not listen
• Broker: identify, locate, & link client systems to resources; once clients are assessed & potential services identified, broker assists in choosing the most appropriate service option & assists in negotiating the terms of service delivery

• When Referring Clients: Clarify the need or purpose for the referral, research resources, discuss and selecting options, plan for initial contact, Always follow-up to see if need was met

• Change Agent: participates as part of a group or organization seeking to improve or restructure some aspect of service provision; uses problem-solving model
• Counselor: goal of improving social functioning; help clients articulate their needs, clarify their problems, apply intervention strategies, etc.; empower clients by affirming their personal strengths & capacities to deal with problems more effectively
• Mediator: when dispute resolution is needed; intervene in disputes between parties to help them find compromises, etc.; take a neutral stance Ex: if clients are consistently not keeping apts in an agency, forming a committee of clients and staff to identify solutions is the best approach. Engaging those who are directly involved is an important first step.
• Mobilizer: mobilizer identifies and convenes community members and resources and makes them responsive to unmet community needs.

** Social Exchange Theory: idea of totaling potential benefits & losses to determine behavior (client may remain in abusive relationship because the high cost of leaving lowers the attractiveness

Location Specific Responsibilities

• During Crisis: Goal is to return to previous state of functioning

• ALWAYS focus on immediate safety before any legal action.

• Young girl comes to SW because her 25 year old boyfriend is threatening to harm her… FIRST seek shelter, ensure safety, THEN contact proper authorities

• Steps: (1) Assess lethality (2) Establish rapport (3) Identify problems (4) Deal with feelings (5) Explore alternatives (6) Develop an action plan (7) Follow-up
• Always seek shelter FIRST regardless of the crisis.

• Role in School Settings: ** SWs DO NOT administer testing for special ed or disability diagnosis. This is done by a psychologist.

• Collateral information from teachers, school staff, or parents, may be needed for information pertaining to the presenting problem. Collaboration with teachers if often needed.
• Interview any student that you suspect of abuse.

• CPS Worker (Child Welfare): Investigate and assess safety/severity in abuse and neglect cases, aim for family preservation, usually provided using wraparound services, removing children is last resort.

• permanency planning aka assessing and preparing the child for long term care that is outside of home through foster care or kinship care.

• Inpatient/Psychiatric Treatment SW: Risk assessment is CRUCIAL, Never discharge patient if they have active suicidal/homocidal ideation

• Use of Empathy in Assessment/Therapy: trying to understand a client’s perspective while maintaining the perspective of an outside observer  

• Hospital SW: Primarily focuses on case management and safe discharge back into the community

• In the case of noncompliant individuals who believe in God's will and refuse services:  explore the role that religion plays in the clients overall self care. The SW should strive to promote client self determining and respect differing values toward the role of religion. This is part of the assessment process.

Part XI: Research

Types of Research

• Qualitative research: collecting information through unstructured interviews, observation, and/or focus groups
• Quantitative research: collects data through input of responses to research instruments containing questions (such as questionnaires); information can be input either by respondents themselves (online or mail survey) or social workers can input data (ex. phone surveys or interviews)

Types of Experimental Designs

• Experimental
• Pre-experimental: Contain intervention groups only and lack comparison/control groups, making them the weakest.
• Quasi-experimental: assignment of participants to an experimental/control group cannot be made at random for either practical or ethical reasons; this is usually the case in field research. Assignment of participants to conditions is usually based on self-selection (e.g. employees who have chosen to work at a particular place) or selection by an administrator (e.g., children are required to attend behavioral therapy due to in school behaviors)         

• Single Subject Design: Aims to determine whether an intervention has the intended impact on a client, or on many clients who form a group, client is their own control, Ideal for studying behavior change in a client for a specific treatment; poor external validity (individual)

• A = baseline | B = intervention
• Pre- and post-test or single-case study (AB) denotes a comparison of behavior before treatment
• Reversal or multiple baseline (ABA or ABAB)

Single subject designs are most practical for private services. Quasi experiments are most practical for agency program evaluations.

Reliability and Validity

• both about how well a method measures something:
• Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure (whether the results can be reproduced under the same conditions).
• Validity refers to the accuracy of a measure (whether the results really do represent what they are supposed to measure).

• Therefore testing the study’s ability to be generalized  internally (is the actual study free from flaws?) and externally (can the test be generalized for real life?).

Data Collection and Analysis Methods

• Secondary Data: information that has already been collected for other purposes that can be used in an experiment
• Inferential statistics: allow you to test a hypothesis or assess whether your data is generalizable to the broader population.
• Descriptive statistics: what does the data show, used to describe the basic features of the data. They provide simple summaries about the sample and the measures.  summarize the characteristics of a data set.
• Inferential statistics: answer research questions or test models or hypotheses, usually extend beyond the immediate data.

• For instance, inferential statistics determine the probability that an observed difference between groups is a dependable one or one that might have happened by chance.

• Data Triangulation: used in assessment to compare and verify information from multiple sources.

Unit XII:  Ethics

The Code of Ethics

• Core Social Work Values

1. Service
2. Social Justice
3. Dignity & Worth of the Person
4. Importance of Human Relationships
5. Integrity
6. Competence

• Documentation Ethics

• Should be completed as soon as possible after client contact
• Demographic info, intakes, assessments, quarterly reviews, reassessments, service plans with goals, discharge plan, release of info & referrals, and correspondence should all be kept in separate sections or folders

• Can be hard copy or digital

• In the event of a client’s death, these practices must still be upheld. Deceased patients have the same rights as living.

• In Therapy/ Client Ethics  

• The SW FIRST task with any client is to establish rapport
• Keep clients' best interest in mind, respect self determination (unless psychotic!)
• Arrange for ongoing coverage of clients if there is a reason for ending therapy.
• Prior to disclosing any information about themselves, social workers should engage in consultation or supervision about why such disclosure is being considered and why it is professionally justified in this instance.
• If client is a minor or lacks capacity, informed consent must be obtained by a responsible third party & assent must be obtained from client
• Self-Disclosure: prior to engaging in any self-disclosure, SW should consult with the supervisor about why such disclosure is professionally justified. Self disclosure is considered the last resort by NASW.
• Avoid conflicts of interests and dual relationships – do not provide therapy to two or more people who have relationships.If you are a family or couple’s therapist, NEVER see the individuals separately.
• Bartering is not allowed unless it is common practice within the community (rarely on exam)
• Ensure continuity of services
• Provide clients with reasonable access to their records – first explore/discuss the reason for the record request, follow  state’s laws/jurisdictions. Help them interpret the records if you think there is anything that could pose a harm.
• Duty to warn if client threatens violence towards others. NOTE: No duty to warn for HIV clients. But do encourage clients to discuss with partners.

• Court Ethics

• Subpoena: Legal document that commands a person or entity to testify as a witness at a specified time and place. Sometimes it will be by a lawyer, sometimes it will be by a judge.

1. Discuss the subpoena with the agency’s counsel if in an agency.

• Court Order: official proclamation by a judge, if disclosure would cause harm to client.

1. When a court order is received to disclose records, supervision should be obtained first  

1. Were you subpoenaed by a judge? → turn over records

• SW should still request that the court withdraw the order or limit the order as narrowly as possible or maintain the records under seal and make documents unavailable for public inspection.
• If SW turns over records, discuss with the client.
• Answer may  look like:  “ SW responds to court order requesting to withdraw the order and communicates with client for release of information.”  and “SW turns over documents to a judge and consults with clients about their duty to do so.”

2.  Were you subpoenaed by a lawyer? → claim privilege and do not turn over documents unless there is written consent.

3. Were you sued by a previous client? → turn over records

•  SW has the right to defend themselves & may need to release client info as part of their defense; however, it should be limited only to what is relevant to defense.

Solving an Ethical Dilemma

1. DETERMINE whether there is an ethical issue or dilemma
2. IDENTIFY the main principles & values involved
3. RANK the main principles & values that are most relevant to the issue or dilemma
4. DEVELOP an action plan
5. IMPLEMENT the action plan
6. REFLECT on the outcome

Part XIII:  Supervision

• When SW approaches a colleague in the community for structured advice, this is consultation. Consultation is about advice that can be rejected by the consultee. Supervision is about direction and education of a supervisee that is on a more continuous basis.