Shift recording in residential child care: Purposes, issues and implications for policy and practice

Abstract

The ways in which information about children in residential child care is recorded and stored raises important implications for service-users, professionals and organizations but is an area of social welfare practise that is under-theorized. Whilst interest in social work recording has been evident in the recent 'turn to language' and 'electronic turn', such interest has not extended to residential child care. This study investigates a routine aspect of daily recording in residential units, shift reports. It draws on the findings of a small-scale study conducted, predominantly, in one local authority in Scotland to begin to explore and critique the purposes and implications of shift recording. The findings and ensuing discussion raise important epistemological, ethical and practical concerns for policy and practise and, at a wider level, contribute to debates concerning the surveillance of looked after children and young people and the nature of care as it is conceived in public discourse. Recommendations are made in relation to policy and practise on recording in residential child care, including a discussion on pedagogical documentation and directions for future research. © The author(s), 2014.