Deck 6: Professional Competence, Incompetence, and Impairment

Question 1

A social worker who has completed a generalist social work degree program should be competent to provide:

A) Clinical supervision and family therapy
B) Psychological diagnoses, psychometric assessments, and psychoanalysis
C) Case management, advocacy, community development, and group facilitation
D) Forensic assessments

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Competent social workers should:

A) Never need to use supervision
B) Provide supervision to themselves, particularly when handling risk situations with clients
C) Make use of supervision when it may be helpful to serve clients effectively
D) Use supervision only if there are serious risks to the client or others

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The concept that professional competence is "aspirational" means that social workers should:

A) Strive for greater levels of knowledge and skill through ongoing reading, supervision, and other forms of professional development
B) Have the minimum amount of knowledge and skill required to perform particular social work tasks
C) Act as if they are very competent even if their level of competence is truly limited ("Fake it 'til you make it")
D) Do whatever they need to do to avoid malpractice lawsuits or ethics complaints from clients

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Olive does not have clinical licensure. She provides counseling services and wants to avoid crossing over into psychotherapy. Which of the following topics should she avoid when counseling clients?

A) Tasks of daily living
B) Time management
C) Unconscious psychological issues
D) Here and now issues

Question 5

You are on the witness stand in a child protection hearing. An attorney asks you for a diagnosis of the child's mental health condition. You are not competent to do so, but you want to answer the attorney's question. You have seen the child display attention issues. You should say,

A) "I am not competent to provide a diagnosis, so my Code of Ethics says that I should not provide one"
B) "The child has Attention Deficit Disorder"
C) "I'm not sure because I am not an expert; however, I think that the client has an Attention Deficit Disorder"
D) "I don't like that question. Could you please ask me something easier to answer?"

Question 6

You are organizing a community meeting via videoconferencing. You have never conducted a videoconference before. To ensure that you facilitate the meeting in a competent manner, it would be most prudent to:

A) Complete a computer science course prior to the meeting.
B) Let everyone know that you will do your best, but you really don't think that you have enough skill to conduct an effective videoconference
C) Wing it (just do it, without preparation, and see what happens)
D) Ask a more experienced colleague for help and practice facilitating a videoconference in advance of your upcoming community meeting.

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT a method of enhancing one's own competence as a professional social worker?

A) Reading relevant research articles
B) Reflecting on practice with a supervisor
C) Reporting a colleague to the agency's program director because you suspect the colleague lacks competence
D) Participating in social work skills training

Question 8

Which of the following examples of social work conduct specifically breaches the NASW Code of Ethics standard on competence (1.04[a])?

A) Working with a client with whom you have a prior relationship
B) Providing an intervention for a client even though you have insufficient skill or knowledge
C) Documenting more information than the minimum required by relevant laws or agency policies
D) Aspiring to promote social justice in a situation where there are very challenging social problems related to discrimination and poverty

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of a specialist competence that requires knowledge and skill beyond that of a generalist social worker?

A) Conducting psychosocial assessments
B) Providing family therapy using Haley's strategic family therapy model
C) Facilitating a mutual aid group for people who are grieving the loss of a loved one
D) Providing referrals for clients in need of in-patient services for substance use disorders

Question 10

Which of the following is an example of a social worker engaging in "impaired practice" under Standard 2.08 of the NASW Code of Ethics?

A) Being so stressed from personal problems that it is impossible to service clients in an effective manner
B) Having a conversation about clients in a public restroom where others can hear the conversation
C) Using videoconferencing to meet with clients even though the clients prefer to meet in-person
D) Having no knowledge or training in community development but is practising in this area