PRC Social Worker flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Microsystem

In Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, the microsystem is the immediate setting the person inhabits, such as family, school, or workplace, where direct face-to-face interaction occurs.

Erikson: industry vs inferiority

Erikson's fourth psychosocial stage, roughly ages 6 to 12, in which children seek competence through school and peers; repeated failure yields feelings of inferiority.

Object permanence

Piaget's sensorimotor achievement, around 8 to 24 months, in which the infant understands objects continue to exist when out of sight, opening the way to symbolic thought.

Secure attachment

Ainsworth classification in which the infant uses the caregiver as a safe base, shows distress at separation, and is easily comforted at reunion; linked to sensitive caregiving.

Concrete operational stage

Piaget's stage from about age 7 to 11 when children acquire conservation, classification, and reversibility but can reason only about tangible rather than abstract problems.

Maslow's esteem needs

The fourth level of Maslow's hierarchy, comprising self-esteem and recognition from others, generally pursued after physiological, safety, and belonging needs are reasonably satisfied.

Disorganized attachment

A pattern of contradictory, freezing, or fearful responses to the caregiver, most often associated with frightening or maltreating caregiving and elevated later risk of psychopathology.

TANF

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: the 1996 block grant that replaced AFDC, imposing work requirements and a 60-month federal lifetime limit on cash assistance.

SSI

Supplemental Security Income: a federal means-tested cash program for people who are aged, blind, or disabled and who have limited income and resources.

Means-tested benefit

A benefit available only to people whose income or assets fall below a defined threshold, such as SNAP, SSI, or Medicaid, in contrast to universal benefits.

Adoption and Safe Families Act

The 1997 federal law requiring permanency hearings within 12 months and termination petitions when a child has been in foster care 15 of the most recent 22 months.

Medicaid

A joint federal-state health program for low-income people covering mandatory groups such as children and pregnant women, with broad federal rules but state-set eligibility and benefits.

Social Security Act of 1935

The New Deal law that created old-age insurance, unemployment insurance, and federal matching grants for state public assistance and child welfare programs.

Motivational interviewing

A client-centered, directive method using OARS (open questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries) to resolve ambivalence and strengthen intrinsic motivation for change.

Miracle question

A solution-focused technique asking the client to describe how life would differ if the problem were solved overnight, thereby highlighting goals and observable signs of change.

Tuckman's storming stage

The second stage of group development, marked by conflict, power struggles, and testing of norms as members negotiate roles, influence, and expectations.

Task-centered practice

A brief, structured model of roughly 6 to 12 sessions in which worker and client agree on explicit target problems and between-session tasks that are systematically reviewed.

Strengths perspective

An orientation assuming every person and environment holds resources; assessment identifies capacities, resilience, and aspirations rather than only pathology and deficits.

Cognitive restructuring

A cognitive-behavioral technique in which clients identify, test, and replace distorted automatic thoughts with more accurate appraisals in order to reduce emotional distress.

Crisis intervention

Short-term, goal-directed practice that first ensures safety and then helps restore precrisis functioning by mobilizing supports and coping capacities, usually within about six weeks.

Learning contract

A written agreement negotiated early in placement specifying the student's learning objectives, activities, supervision arrangements, and the methods by which performance will be evaluated.

Process recording

A detailed narrative or near-verbatim account of an interview, including the student's feelings and reactions, used in supervision to develop skill and self-awareness.

Parallel process

The phenomenon in which dynamics from the client-worker relationship are reenacted in the worker-supervisor relationship, supplying useful information about the case.

Transfer of learning

Applying concepts, theories, and skills learned in the classroom to actual practice situations in field placement, supported by integrative seminars and supervision.

Summative evaluation

The end-of-placement judgment of whether a student has met required competencies, based on accumulated evidence gathered across the placement rather than on single feedback episodes.

Field instructor

The agency-based social worker who supervises and evaluates a student's field placement, typically holding a BSW or MSW and relevant practice experience.

Informed consent

Agreement to services or disclosure given voluntarily by a client with capacity after receiving information about purposes, risks, benefits, alternatives, and the right to withdraw.

Tarasoff duty

The duty to protect or warn an identifiable third party when a client poses a serious threat of violence; specific requirements vary by state statute and case law.

Mandated reporting

A legal obligation of social workers to report suspected child abuse or neglect to designated authorities, typically immediately or within a short statutory time frame.

Dual relationship

When a social worker holds a second role with a client, such as friend, business partner, or relative; acceptable only when unavoidable and not exploitative or clinically impairing.

NASW core values

Service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence, which form the foundation of the NASW Code of Ethics.

Confidentiality limits

Exceptions to client privacy include imminent risk of harm to self or others, suspected abuse or neglect, court orders, and disclosure authorized in writing by the client.