MSW 505 Week 5 Goal Negotiation Role-Play Analysis Example

Direct Practice I (Individuals and Families) Chamberlain University Free custom sample in 24 to 48h

This MSW 505 Week 5 sample paper analyzes a recorded role play to answer one question: was the goal "J. will attend school every day" negotiated with J. or supplied by the worker? Chamberlain MSW 505 (MSW-505), Direct Practice I (Individuals and Families), asks Master of Social Work (MSW) students to catch themselves collecting agreement for their own plan. The analysis quotes the goal, pinpoints minute 4 when the worker's agenda entered, records that J. wanted math to stop being the worst part of the day, tests the goal against the course criteria with Miller and Rollnick and writes a better goal of three math classes a week with the questions that would produce it.

CourseMSW 505 Direct Practice I (Individuals and Families)
Week5
Paper typeRole-play analysis
LengthAbout 490 words, 5 pages
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolChamberlain University
ProgramMaster of Social Work (MSW)
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for MSW 505 Week 5

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Role-Play Analysis: Was the Goal "Attend School Every Day" Negotiated With J. or Supplied by the Worker? The Goal Quoted Exactly, Where My Agenda Entered, What J. Wanted First, the Goal Tested Against Criteria and a Better Wording

Student Name

Chamberlain University

MSW 505: Direct Practice I (Individuals and Families)

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingThe title targets one question, whether the goal was negotiated, which is what this week's role-play analysis is built to answer.
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Role-Play Analysis: Was the Goal "Attend School Every Day" Negotiated With J. or Supplied by the Worker? The Goal Quoted Exactly, Where My Agenda Entered, What J. Wanted First, the Goal Tested Against Criteria and a Better Wording

The Goal, Worded Exactly

The goal recorded at the end of the role play, with a classmate playing J.: "J. will attend school every day."

What this page is doingQuoting the goal exactly as written keeps the analysis honest about what was actually agreed.
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Where the Worker's Agenda Entered

At minute 4, the classmate as J. said, "I want math to stop being the worst part of my day." I replied, "And the main thing the school needs is for you to be there every day, right?" That was the moment the goal became mine. Everything after it collected agreement for attendance.

Watching the recording, I could see my posture change at that moment: I leaned in and started writing. The classmate playing J. said afterward that this felt like "the real meeting starting," with everything before it as small talk. That is the opposite of what I intended.

What this page is doingRecording how the classmate experienced the shift adds evidence that the agenda change was felt, not only seen on paper.
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What the Client Wanted First

J.'s first stated want was about the math class, not attendance in general. J. never said "every day." When I proposed it, J. said, "I guess," which I wrote down as agreement.

Tested Against the Criteria

The course asks that goals be the client's, specific and achievable. Client's own: no; it was the school's goal voiced by me. Specific: yes, in a sense, but "every day" leaves no room for a partial step. Achievable: unlikely for a student with 22 absences and morning anxiety; an all-or-nothing goal sets up failure on the first missed day. Motivational interviewing warns that agreement given to a helper's plan is weaker than a goal the person states in their own words (Miller & Rollnick, 2013).

A Better Wording, and How to Get There

Better: "For two weeks, J. goes to math on three days out of five or more, with a morning plan of J.'s own choosing for days when the stomach pain starts." To get there, I would reflect J.'s first statement back, "Math is the worst part of your day," then ask, "What would a better week in math look like to you?" and wait for J.'s answer before writing anything.

What this page is doingWriting the better goal and the questions that would produce it shows how to get from a supplied goal to a negotiated one.
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What I Learned

The pull toward the referral source's goal is strongest in the first minutes. I will now write nothing down until the client has stated a want twice.

I will also show the client the goal as written and ask whether it sounds like something they said. If the answer is "I guess," the goal is not finished.

References

Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing: Helping people change (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.

Reading the MSW 505 Week 5 instructions

In week 5 the task is analyzing a role play with a specific target: whether the goal was negotiated or supplied. Quote the goal exactly as recorded. Find the moment the worker's agenda entered. Set out what the client wanted first, in the client's words. Test the goal against the course criteria, such as whether it is the client's own, specific and achievable. Then write a better wording and the questions that would get there. If the client in the role play agreed with everything, look at how that agreement was obtained. Goals should be specific enough to measure. An analysis can be written from a recorded role play. Cite the framework behind the criteria.

Inside the MSW 505 Week 5 example

The goal is quoted as "J. will attend school every day." The agenda section places the shift at minute 4, when the worker answered J.'s wish about math with what the school needed. The client section records J.'s first want about the math class and an "I guess" taken as agreement. The criteria section finds the goal not J.'s own, specific but all-or-nothing and unlikely given 22 absences, citing Miller and Rollnick (2013) on agreement given to a helper's plan. The better goal is math on three or more days a week for a fortnight, with a morning plan J. chose, reached by reflecting J.'s statement and asking what a better week in math would look like. A last section adds a rule about stated wants.

Where the points sit in the MSW 505 Week 5 rubric

The analysis is graded first on finding the moment the agenda entered. A paper that critiques the goal in general, without locating where it stopped being the client's, earns little. Quoting the goal and the client's first want exactly is expected. Testing the goal against named criteria earns a defined share. The better wording carries real weight, and so do the questions that would produce it, since they show the student can change the process and not just the result. Honesty about how agreement was collected is credited. Cite the motivational interviewing source, or whichever framework you used, in APA style.

MSW 505 Week 5 help: mistakes that cost points

Role-play analyses commonly praise the goal because the client agreed, without asking how the agreement was obtained. Another frequent gap is rewriting the goal without saying how a worker would actually reach it in conversation. Some analyses also skip the client's first stated want. If your role play produced a different goal, send it with the exchange around it; we would quote the goal, find where your agenda entered, set out what the client wanted first, test the goal against your course's criteria and write a better wording with the questions to reach it. If your client agreed to everything, that agreement would be examined. If the client in your role play agreed to everything, the analysis would look closely at how that agreement was obtained.

Get a MSW-505 Week 5 example written to your instructions

Send the Week 5 instructions and any recording or notes from the role play your section assigned, and a custom example is written as an analysis of that exchange and returned inside 24 to 48 hours. The first one is free. The judgment about your own practice stays yours.

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MSW 505 Week 5 questions, answered

My client in the role play agreed with everything. Is that a problem?

For the practice, often yes; for the paper, it is useful material. Ready agreement usually means the goal was supplied rather than negotiated, and an analysis that spots this and traces where it happened is doing exactly what the week teaches. Treating the agreement as a success is the version that loses marks.

How specific does a goal have to be?

Specific enough that both parties would recognize it as met. Your section will set the criteria, and most versions want something observable, achievable within a stated period and owned by the client system. The wording test is the quickest one: if the goal uses professional vocabulary the person never used, it probably belongs to the worker.

Can an example be written for a recorded role play?

Yes, where the recording is one your section arranged and you pass on only what the assignment allows you to. What comes back models the analysis rather than replacing your judgment about your own exchange. Follow whatever consent process the assignment sets, since recording a peer usually has one attached.

Where can I find a free MSW 505 Week 5 sample paper?

This page holds a complete MSW 505 Week 5 role-play analysis of whether a school attendance goal was negotiated or supplied.

What better goal does the MSW 505 Week 5 sample write?

Going to math on three or more days a week across a fortnight, with a morning plan the young person chose for days when the stomach pain starts.