Social Work Comprehensive Exam Review Flashcards

A set of 1000 vocabulary flashcards covering community based social work, defense mechanisms, developmental theories, medical terms, and DSM-5 disorders for exam preparation.

Community Based Social Work

A practice that looks at the impact larger social systems have on people and society to promote social change beyond the individual level.

Indirect Practice

A term for community based practice because the social worker works alongside community members rather than as an expert.

Nature of Community Practice

Long term in nature due to the many stages required to accomplish lasting macro-level change.

Initiator

A community role where the person calls attention to an issue, problem, or a situation that can be improved.

Negotiator

An intermediary who acts to settle or resolve disputes on behalf of a community, usually representing one party.

Manager

One who assumes administrative responsibility for a social service agency or organizational system.

Mediator

A neutral party who resolves arguments or disagreements among micro, mezzo, or macro systems.

Broker

A role that links systems of any size with community resources and services.

Facilitator

One who guides a group experience and brings people together to help direct efforts and resources.

Educator

A role involved in teaching people about community resources and helping them develop specific skills.

Advocate (Macro)

Someone who speaks out on behalf of a macro client system, such as a neighborhood, to promote fair treatment.

Mobilizer

A role that identifies and convenes community members and resources to make them responsive to unmet needs.

Analyst/Evaluator

A role that determines whether a program or agency is effective using data such as surveys and interviews.

Data Collection Methods for Evaluation

Includes surveys, efficacy numbers, interviews, and post-program follow-up.

Community Organizing Purpose

To tip the balance of power to be more favorable to community members using collective power.

Social Planning Participation

The process where social workers plan WITH the community, not for them, avoiding the role of the expert.

Social Planning Definition

A process in which a group or community decides its goals and strategies as they relate to societal issues.

Locality Development

A process of reaching group consensus about common concerns and collaborating in problem solving to break down communication barriers.

Stages of Community Organizing: Step $1$

Integrate into the Community by building relationships and participating in local events.

Stages of Community Organizing: Step $2$

Identify the Problem or biggest need of the community, which may require time to unify different opinions.

Stages of Community Organizing: Step $3$

Set Goals and Objectives to define the desired outcome or change for the identified problem.

Example Community Goal

Increase access to high quality health care by $20\%$.

Stages of Community Organizing: Step $4$

Identify Individuals and Create Groups by involving passionate community leaders and trusted members.

Stages of Community Organizing: Step $5$

Create an Action Plan to identify resources needed, specific tasks, and points of contact.

Stages of Community Organizing: Step $6$

Put the Plan Into Place, ensuring everyone involved is properly trained.

Stages of Community Organizing: Step $7$

Evaluate the Plan using data and evidence to determine if the plan is working or needs change.

Coercive Power

Power derived from the control of punishment, such as a prison guard controlling access to resources.

Reward Power

Power derived from the control of rewards, such as a teacher giving prizes for correct behavior.

Expert Power

Power derived from superior or increased knowledge, such as CDC scientists making medical decisions.

Referent Power

Power derived from charisma or being identified with others in power, often held by politicians.

Legitimate Power

Power from having legitimate authority, such as a school principal hiring and firing staff.

Informational Power

Power from having access to information, such as having access to the internet.

Working WITH People of Power

Involves inviting opponents to planning meetings and educating them on the importance of community services.

Defense Mechanism Definition

Unconscious reactions used to protect oneself from unpleasant feelings, actions, and thoughts.

Defense Mechanism Founders

First proposed by Freud and developed further by his daughter Anna.

Bargaining

Trying to negotiate or make deals with oneself, others, or a higher power to avoid an unwanted reality.

Compensation

Making up for a real or perceived weakness by excelling in another area.

Conversion

Repressing an event or feeling which then manifests as a bodily disruption or physical symptom.

Denial

The inability to admit something has happened or blocking events from awareness.

Dissociation

A momentary loss of connection to reality or feeling separated from self, such as amnesia after an accident.

Displacement

Transferring negative emotion from one person to an unrelated person or thing.

Projection

Attributing one's own thoughts and feelings onto handles or someone else.

Identification with Aggressor

A victim taking the role of the aggressor and imitating their behavior.

Intellectualization

Focusing on facts, logic, or technical details to avoid experiencing uncomfortable emotions.

Introjection

Accepting another person's attitudes, beliefs, and values as one's own.

Isolation of Affect

Recalling a traumatic event without experiencing the associated emotion; separating thoughts from feelings.

Rationalization

Providing reasonable explanations or picking certain elements of truth to justify actions or failures.

Reaction Formation

Behaving or reacting in a way that is the exact opposite of one's inner feelings or true intentions.

Regression

A reversion to an earlier stage of development when faced with fearful or threatening thoughts.

Repression

The unconscious forgetting of painful ideas, events, or conflicts.

Sublimation

Redirecting strong emotions into an activity that is safe and productive, such as boxing for anger.

Undoing

Taking back an unacceptable or hurtful behavior by performing the opposite act, like praising someone after an insult.

Erik Erikson's Theory

Development is a lifelong process that continues across the entire lifespan.

Erikson: Trust vs. Mistrust

Infancy (Birth to $18$ months); basic need for safety; baby trusts that others will meet their needs.

Erikson: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Early Childhood ($18$ months to $3$ years); motor and communication skills develop; independence is the goal.

Erikson: Initiative vs. Guilt

Preschool age ($3$ to $6$ years); children begin to explore and branch out from parents.

Erikson: Industry vs. Inferiority

School age ($7$ to $11$ years); navigating school demands; task mastery leads to feeling productive.

Erikson: Identity vs. Role Confusion

Adolescence ($12$ to $18$ years); forming a sense of self in relation to peers.

Erikson: Intimacy vs. Isolation

Young Adulthood ($19$ to $35$ years); goal is forming loving and intimate relationships.

Erikson: Generativity vs. Stagnation

Middle-age Adult ($30$ to $50$ years); the need to create or nurture things and professional life.

Erikson: Integrity vs. Despair

Older Adult ($50+$ years); reflecting on life to feel a sense of fulfillment.

Jean Piaget's Theory

Cognitive Theory of Development focused on the development of thinking from infancy to adulthood.

Piaget Stage $1$: Sensorimotor Period

Birth to $2$ years; coordination of sensory input and development of object permanence.

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects still exist even when they cannot be seen.

Piaget Stage $2$: Preoperational Period

$2$ to $7$ years; development of symbolic thought, irreversibility, centration, and egocentrism.

Egocentrism

A child's focus only on themselves and their own perspective.

Animism

Giving non-human objects human characteristics.

Magical Thinking

The belief that one's thoughts can cause reality.

Piaget Stage $3$: Concrete Operational Period

$7$ to $11$ years; mental operations applied to concrete events; mastery of conservation and classification.

Conservation

Understanding that the same amount of liquid exists in two containers of different sizes.

Piaget Stage $4$: Formal Operational Period

Age $11$ through adulthood; mental operations applied to abstract ideas and logical, systematic thinking.

Irreversibility (Piaget)

The understanding in the Concrete Operational stage that certain things, like death, cannot be undone.

Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory

Development defined by morality and having a sense of right or wrong.

Kohlberg Level $1$: Pre-conventional Morality

Behavior is driven by the desire to avoid punishment or seek personal rewards.

Kohlberg Stage $1$: Obedience and Punishment

Children behave only to escape being punished.

Kohlberg Stage $2$: Individual Interest

Behavior is driven by self-interest; 'What is in it for me?'

Kohlberg Level $2$: Conventional Morality

Behavior is driven by social approval and obeying authority.

Kohlberg Stage $3$: Interpersonal

Behavior is driven by social approval and the desire to please others.

Kohlberg Stage $4$: Authority

Behavior is driven by the need to obey laws and follow rules to maintain social order.

Kohlberg Level $3$: Post-conventional Morality

Behavior is driven by internal moral principles and social contracts.

Kohlberg Stage $5$: Social Contract

Behavior is driven by a balance of social order and individual rights; focus on what is good for the community.

Kohlberg Stage $6$: Universal Ethics

Behavior is driven by internal values; belief that all humans should be treated fairly regardless of laws.

Summary: Erikson vs. Piaget vs. Kohlberg

Erikson focuses on emotional/social development; Piaget on cognitive thinking; Kohlberg on moral reasoning.

Margaret Mahler

Theorist associated with Object Relations Theory.

Bowlby and Ainsworth

Theorists associated with Attachment Theory.

Tuckman's Stages of Group Development

Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning.

Forming Stage

The beginning of a group where members are independent and looking for guidance.

Storming Stage

A period of conflict and disagreement within the group as members establish roles.

Norming Stage

Members begin to work together and reach consensus.

Performing Stage

The group is functional and works toward common goals.

Adjourning Stage

The termination of the group and return to independence.

Social Worker Role in Groups

Encourage members to bring issues back to the group to share feelings and use the group as a therapeutic tool.

Exceptions for Meeting Privately with Group Members

Disclosures of abuse/neglect, suicidal/homicidal comments, or immediate substance abuse referral needs.

Family Role: Mascot

The family member who deflects tension and conflict using humor or distraction.

Family Role: Hero

The 'golden' member who represents family ideals to mask underlying conflict.

Family Role: Lost Child

The member who avoids conflict by isolating themselves or staying distracted with solitary activities.

Family Role: Scapegoat

The family member who is blamed for all problems to keep focus off others.

Family Role: Enabler

The 'martyr' who supports dysfunctional behavior and shields the negative image of other family members.

Diffuse Boundaries

In enmeshed family systems where there is little independence and emotional states are interdependent.

Rigid Boundaries

In disengaged family systems where communication is obstructed and members act with too much autonomy.