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Thank You Social Work Test Prep!!

I was extremely nervous as I sat getting ready to take the Master's exam! I was originally scheduled for August 2^nd, panicked and re- scheduled for November 2^nd. My 90 days with you guys had expired, but it was super simple to get an extension!

The material was great, I was able to sit and study and PASSED my exam on my first try!!! I felt pretty good going in! Most of my classmates did NOT pass on their first try, and paid for very expensive study aids. I found SWTP to be fairly priced and they definitely helped!!

I HIGHLY recommend this study program!

Thanks again!

--Jessica

Congratulations, Jessica! And congratulations to all who have recently passed the social work licensing exam. Way to go!

Be like Jessica-save money, prepare smart, and pass the exam with SWTP. Create an account to get started…now!

Were you paying attention a couple of posts ago about recent changes made to the NASW Code of Ethics? Let's find out. here's a quick quiz-style question:

Which of the following is a crucial new component of the Cultural Competence section of the Code of Ethics?

A. Combating Stereotypes

B. Cultural Humility

C. Multicultural Competence

D. Social Justice

What do you think? If you know the Code of Ethics well, you'll recognize three of these as being anything but new.

Let's answer the question with a question, this time more in the style of the ASWB exam.

A social worker is confronted by a client for cultural insensitivity. The social worker, seeing that the client is right, apologizes and seems to repair the rift with the client. What action should the social worker take NEXT to remedy the situation?

A. Revisit the rupture with the client and examine any unspoken resentments.

B. In the next session, ask the client to help her better understand and remedy her biases.

C. Seek guidance from others who share the same culture as the client.

D. Engage in learning, self-reflection, and self-correction regarding the misstep.

Okay, this one kind of answer itself, even if you haven't recently read the update to the Code's Cultural Competency section. One just sounds more like the text of the Code of Ethics. Sometimes on the social work exam you get lucky that way.

Why else is this the right answer? Social workers-and people in general-should take care not to give others (particularly those who are disenfranchised in any way) the extra job of educating and hand-holding and putting-at-ease. That's work-usually unwelcome work. Three of these answers fall into that trap. One-D-does not. If an offered answer suggested seeking guidance from a supervisor regarding the misstep, that might have been the one to choose. It's supervisors' job to help social workers navigate difficult areas, often including their own conscious and unconscious biases. One way to think of it: if you're going to ask someone to do work, try to make sure they're being paid for it.

Cultural humility, by the way-that's the quiz answer. The phrase is new to the Code of Ethics, and describes something that wasn't quite there before. Keeping cultural humility in mind can only make you a better social worker-and all-the-more ready to pass the licensing exam.

Good luck!

I passed! The practice exams helped prepare me tremendously. Such a proud moment. - Stephanie

Congratulations, Stephanie! That's the proud smile everyone on here is working toward.

Reader, we want you to be next. Sign up now to get started with SWTP practice. There's no preparation like taking realistic, full-length practice tests. All our exams have thorough rationales for each answer of each question, so you learn exam content and best approaches to social work exam questions as you go.

What are you waiting for? Sign up to get our free study guide and start working toward a proud, "I passed" smile.

Happy studying and good luck on the exam!

The NASW has updated the Code of Ethics, its essential guide to social work practice and a hefty part of the social work licensing exam. Changes for 2020 and 2021 are highlighted here. Among the newer, noteworthy alterations, this paragraph regarding self care:

Professional self-care is paramount for competent and ethical social work practice. Professional demands, challenging workplace climates, and exposure to trauma warrant that social workers maintain personal and professional health, safety, and integrity. Social work organizations, agencies, and educational institutions are encouraged to promote organizational policies, practices, and materials to support social workers' self-care.

And this, under 1.05 Cultural Competence:

(c) Social workers should demonstrate awareness and cultural humility by engaging in critical self-reflection (understanding their own bias and engaging in self-correction); recognizing clients as experts of their own culture; committing to life-long learning; and holding institutions accountable for advancing cultural humility.

Other recent and recent-ish changes include this tweak to the Informed Consent section:

(c) Social workers should demonstrate awareness and cultural humility by engaging in critical self-reflection (understanding their own bias and engaging in self-correction); recognizing clients as experts of their own culture; committing to life-long learning; and holding institutions accountable for advancing cultural humility.

This, under the Competence heading:

(d) Social workers who use technology in the provision of social work services should ensure that they have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide such services in a competent manner. This includes an understanding of the special communication challenges when using technology and the ability to implement strategies to address these challenges.

And, from 1.05 Cultural Awareness and Social Diversity:

(d) Social workers who provide electronic social work services should be aware of cultural and socioeconomic differences among clients and how they may use electronic technology. Social workers should assess cultural, environmental, economic, mental or physical ability, linguistic, and other issues that may affect the delivery or use of these services.

And on from there, including a big section amended in 1.07, Privacy and Confidentiality regarding electronic communications and record keeping. But that's a year old-you already knew it by heart, right?

This, or material nearby in the COE, will be on the exam. Anything in the Code of Ethics may show up on the ASWB exam. Even as there's variation in the amount of macro, medication, or diagnostic questions exam to exam, one guaranteed constant is ethics. Learn it, know it, live it.

For practice questions covering ethics and everything else on the social work exam, sign up with SWTP. If you're looking for ethics-only practice, we've got that too (our Ethics Booster test). Thousands of social workers have used Social Work Test Prep to prepare for and pass the exam. Hope you'll join them soon.

Happy studying and good luck on the exam!

Where do social work exam question come from? They come from social workers like you-or maybe like you a few years from now. Exam writers are licensed social workers who, for a fee, agree to help generate new content for the ASWB exam. Where do they get their ideas for new exam content? Well, where would you get it from? From experience probably. And, if you ran out of experience to draw upon, where would you turn? Probably past questions, textbooks, articles…

Which is why we recommend studying as if you were an exam writer. When you're reviewing exam content, think to yourself, "How might this material be formed into a licensing exam question?"

Here's some practice. Take a look at this Eye on Ethics column, Boundary Challenges Outside of the Office - Home-Based Services. There's material there for several solid social work exam questions. Real world, ethics-based, tricky situations. Here's one we came up with:

A social worker in a group home for adolescents who do not have stable families. The social worker's clients gather routinely for meals in the group home's dining room. They invite the social worker to join them. The social worker should:

A. Refuse the invitation to avoid boundary crossing.

B. Accept the invitation and join in regular conversation.

C. Accept the invitation but refrain from overly engaging in dinner table conversation.

D. Politely refuse the invitation and return to other work.

How would you answer?

The article includes more info:

The program model includes having the social worker, who serves all of the group home's residents, join in meals occasionally to enhance relationships.

So, if you've read that, you can quickly strike A & D (refuse and politely refuse). That leaves joining the dinner and talking and joining the dinner and talking only a little.

Sure, social workers are generally  better off listening than holding forth. But holding forth isn't really "regular conversation." Which leaves one best answer: B. Accept and talk.

The actual, real-world response, according to the article:

The social worker is careful to avoid engaging in treatment-related conversation or disclosing too much personal information during the meal. Her goal is to engage with the residents informally and to talk about "safe" issues (for example, current events, sports, popular music, television shows) that do not involve deeply personal, sensitive, or confidential matters.

If you've worked an inpatient setting, you've likely joined clients in all kinds of activities. It's part of treatment-an important part. A question like this, given that experience, is a freebie.

So move on to the next Eye on Ethics column and come up with your own question. Does it seem like a real exam question? Send it in! Maybe we'll post it here. More free practice for your fellow exam-prepping social worker.

Happy reading, happy question writing, and good luck with the exam!