Chapter 4: Critical Theories

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following idea is consistent with critical theory?

A. questioning oppression

B. acceptance of progress

C. supporting inequality

D. promoting violent revolution

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Key Themes in Critical Theory and Its Development

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Critical theorists posit that the ______ are in the best position to challenge all forms of oppression.

A. natural sciences

B. applied sciences

C. humanities

D. social sciences

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Questioning and Acting on All Forms of Oppression

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Critical theorists are most likely to support ______.

A. interdisciplinary research that integrates information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts, and/or theories from two or more disciplines

B. action research that involves research participants in decision-making in different aspects of research

C. empirical research that includes analyzing firsthand data collected from voluntary research participants

D. empirical research that includes analyzing secondary data collected by other researchers with similar interests

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Initiating a Public Process of Self-Reflection

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. A group is working to develop effective medical practices and treatment for a disease. According to critical theorists, which of the following groups should be involved in this process?

A. patients and their families

B. physicians and other medical professionals

C. patients, physicians, and lay participants

D. patients and nonpatients

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Initiating a Public Process of Self-Reflection

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Feminist theorists are cautious about which of the following?

A. studying the experiences of diverse women of color, lesbians, those who are poor and others

B. engaging in activism to promote women’s equality such as involvement in voter registration

C. promoting better family policies such as better nutrition and health care for mothers and children

D. following Marxists’ tradition of understanding oppression based on economic inequality

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Feminist Criticism

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. Which of the following statement is consistent with the critical race theory?

A. Races are categories that society invents, manipulates, and recreates.

B. The racial majorities tolerate advances in racial justice at all times.

C. Racial majorities are competent in explaining the consequences of racial oppression.

D. Racism is a rare experience for people of color in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Critical Race Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Regarding the empowerment model currently used in social work practice, which of the following statements is true?

A. It is often used to empower a social class.

B. It is applied with advantaged populations.

C. It addresses sociopolitical empowerment.

D. It focuses on personal and interpersonal empowerment.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Critical Theory in Social Work

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Which threat to liberation can be understood as both internal and external?

A. internalized oppression

B. a culture of silence

C. fear of freedom

D. divide and rule

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Threats to Liberation: Internalized Oppression and a Culture of Silence

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Which of the following best describes assistentialism?

A. the common dimension of subordination of the large majority by a small, powerful minority

B. the use of professionals as an instrument to keep people in their respective socioeconomic positions

C. the tendency to develop a fatalistic attitude that involves fearing the very possibility of liberation

D. the naïve state of being that leaves people without the power to change the status quo of being oppressed

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: External Threats to Liberation: Divide and Rule, and Assistentialism

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Fear of freedom can best be described as the ______.

A. common dimension of subordination of the large majority by a small, powerful minority

B. use of professionals as an instrument to keep people in their respective socioeconomic positions

C. tendency to develop a fatalistic attitude that involves fearing the very possibility of liberation

D. naïve state of being that leaves people without the power to change the status quo of being oppressed

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Fear of Freedom as a Threat to the People’s Liberation

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Which of the following best describes divide and rule?

A. the tendency to develop a fatalistic attitude that involves fearing the very possibility of liberation

B. the use of professionals as an instrument to keep people in their respective socioeconomic positions

C. the common dimension of subordination of the large majority by a small, powerful minority

D. the naïve state of being that leaves people without the power to change the status quo of being oppressed

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: External Threats to Liberation: Divide and Rule, and Assistentialism

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Which of the following statement is true about adaptation?

A. Adaptation is symptomatic of humanization.

B. Adaptation represents a strong form of self-defense.

C. Adaptation is a behavior characteristic of the animal sphere.

D. Adaptation causes people to change social injustice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Fear of Freedom as a Threat to the People’s Liberation

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Which of the following is true about Freire and his ideas?

A. His thought has impacted most academic disciplines and professions.

B. The influence of his ideas has been limited to the field of education.

C. In his writing, Freire advocated for the interests of the upper class.

D. American social work profession has fully embraced Freire’s writings.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Overview Summary | In-Depth: Paulo Freire (1921–1997)

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. According to Freire, ______ consciousness is defined as the awareness that recognizes social, economic, and political factors as causal forces that shape human behavior.

A. critical

B. naïve

C. false

D. real

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Liberation of Human Consciousness: Freire’s Utopian Ideals

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Which educational methods features gathering people in small groups and showing them slides of various cultural artifacts?

A. problem posing

B. culture circles

C. conscientization

D. banking education

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Critical Consciousness and the Transformation of Society

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. Which of the following statements is true about the banking model of education?

A. It forms solidarity between teachers and students, as well as between student groups.

B. It is a mutual effort that helps to facilitate the conscientization process.

C. It is problem-posing, which demythologizes the oppressor’s insidious messages.

D. It is typically used by an oppressive class in order to maintain the current order.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conscientization and the Liberatory Model of Education

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Which of the following statements is true about the liberatory model of education?

A. It helps people to develop their own capacity for praxis.

B. It maintains passivity by preventing a macro level awareness.

C. It deprives the capacity of people to develop critical consciousness.

D. It is an important tool for the ruling class to remain powerful.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conscientization and the Liberatory Model of Education

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. ______ argued that individual citizens have equal footing no matter their place, status, and power in society.

A. Freire

B. Marx

C. Habermas

D. Horkheimer

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: What Does This Theory Say About Human Behavior?

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Freire was skeptical of the role of social workers because they ______.

A. are a tool for social control

B. help to promote social changes

C. provide concrete help to their clients

D. practice in too many different settings

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: How Holistic Is This Theory?

Difficulty Level: Hard

20. Critical theory is most consistent with ______ practice.

A. micro

B. mezzo

C. exo

D. macro

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: How Holistic Is This Theory?

Difficulty Level: Hard

21. Critical theories have been challenged because it ______.

A. is impossible to help oppressed communities develop critical consciousness

B. is difficult to differentiate between critical theory and empowerment theories

C. involves raising questions about the existing social and economic systems

D. is very difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate the effectiveness of critical theories

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: What Are the Sources of Knowledge That Support This Theory?

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. ______ defines people as “objects” who are unable to take responsibility for their own liberation.

A. Assistentialism

B. Culture of silence

C. Massification

D. Objectification

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Application of Critical Theory to Social Work Education

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. When people are unaware of the conditions in which they live and how those conditions oppress them, they are demonstrating signs of ______.

A. critical consciousness

B. naïve consciousness

C. banking education

D. liberatory education

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Application of Critical Theory to Social Work Education

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. When working with women with experience of sexual abuse, a social worker who practices critical theory will ______.

A. look at the early childhood experience of the women

B. question the ideologies that objectify women

C. examine the inequalities between women of different social class

D. talk about the inequalities between women of different social class

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Application of Critical Theories to Social Work

Difficulty Level: Hard

25. Which of the following is part of Freire’s ideas?

A. The oppressed communities can develop critical consciousness to empower them.

B. It is legitimate for the privileged groups to take control of other groups.

C. Social changes must be accompanied by violent revolution.

D. Naïve consciousness is the precursor for critical consciousness.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conscientization and the Liberatory Model of Education

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. Marx viewed getting and keeping collective power as the motive behind all social and political activity.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Overview Summary

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Critical theory, broadly defined, can be used to analyze power inequalities related to racism, sexism, colonialism, and disability.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Critical Theory in the 20th Century: Feminist Criticism and Critical Race Theory

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. American social workers readily accepted the use of critical theory in practice settings such as child welfare.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Critical Theory in Social Work

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. According to Freire, Brazilian society and culture were slavocratic, antidemocratic, and dominated by an oppressive outside force.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The oppression of human consciousness: The Brazilian situation

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Conscientization is a broad term indicating the ongoing humanization of people as subjects.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Critical Consciousness and the Transformation of Society

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. In your own words, briefly define “material circumstances” and “historic situations.”

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Chapter Summary

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Explain why supporting equality and engagement in the public sphere is important for all citizens.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Supporting Equality and Engagement in the Public Sphere

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Compare and contrast naïve consciousness and critical consciousness.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Freire’s View of Human Beings as Subjects not Objects

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Explain why critical theories are consistent with social work values and ethics.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: How Consistent Is This Theory With Social Work Values and Ethics?

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Using pay differentials between men and women as an example, explain how critical theory can be used at two levels of practice.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Application of Critical Theories to Social Work

Difficulty Level: Hard