F ORM AND FUNCTION

Inscription is used in the CFSWS to create proxy objects which can be used to represent cases. The challenge to the design and use of these inscribing devices is that such objects are required to fulfil a range of different functions. Each of these functions make different demands on the inscribing process and may create tensions in the design and use of standard inscribing devices. Inscription is used in the Social Work service to create objects which represent cases. These objects have different purposes. The demands of these purposes are often conflicting and produce tensions in the inscribing practices used to create such objects. Often, the

149

same objects, i.e. a form or a case file, are used for different purposes, and again, this can create conflicting demands on inscribing practices required to produce documentation. The purpose of the inscribing devices may affect the criteria for deciding the type and quantity of information represented through inscription. Issues such as utility, confidentially, ownership and access to documentation all create different demands and different rationales for inscribing practices.

The multiple purposes of inscriptions devices may mean additional documentation work for Social Workers and as such have an effect on workload. Documentation may have to be duplicated in slightly amended formats or the comprehensiveness of inscription required for administrative purposes may be experienced as unnecessary workload by Social Workers who must carry out the work of documenting a case. However, attempts to reduce duplication, by creating a single inscribing device to fulfil multiple roles, for example the SAF, also create tensions in terms of the range and quantity of information contained in such formats. The functions of inscription are potentially in conflict. To accommodate such conflicts requires additional work in creating multiple versions of the documentation about cases, or somehow, to create a kind of inscribing device that can be flexible enough to accommodate different uses. This is clearly something that has been attempted through the design of the SAF, with limited success. The challenge for file- keeping within the Social Work service is that the different demands made on such inscriptions, are made on the same set of inscriptions. Is it possible to consider all these possible uses and audiences for this object, at the point of record-keeping?

A case is represented through inscribing devices essentially when the case is being represented externally to other agencies, to other authorities; equally, the case is represented through inscribing devices when, because of historical or personnel reasons, the case cannot be represented through the personal presence and description of the Social Worker who worked on the case. The most important characteristic of an inscribing device such as the SAF in representing the object of the case is that it does not require the presence of the Social Worker assigned to the case. The object can step outside the limitations of time and space and

150

represent the case in ways that the Social Worker cannot. The report can go in advance of the Social Worker, and be read by the Children’s Panel members, by the Children’s Reporter and by the participants in a case conference, reducing the time needed for such face to face meetings. The report can reduce the time required to represent the case, by summarizing and rendering the material more concise, than a narrative presented by the Social Worker.

In the absence of any requirement to represent the case externally, activity on the case is not necessarily translated into documentation, and certainly not formal documentation. Instead the knowledge of the case remains tacit, and representation of the case is done through oral discussion. Inscribing devices such as the SAF are used in order to speak for the case beyond the CFSW Service. As already described, one of the purposes of objectification of a case is in order to render it available for ‘management’. In terms of ongoing Social Work practice, this is not necessary for the ongoing work on the case. Social Workers are happy to maintain working relationships with family members, and intervene or assist on the basis of personal, tacit working knowledge of the case. The ongoing assessment of risk occurs either through tacit processes, or through oral discussion in supervision, or, as observed during the research, through informal discussions with colleagues. During my observation of the ‘duty’ session, I was privy to conversations in the office between Social Workers who asked their colleagues advice about their cases. For example, one Social Worker was unsure what to do about a phone call she had just received from a primary school concerning a child involved in one of her cases. Apparently, the child’s father had arrived to pick up the child from school, along with a male friend. According to the schoolteacher, both men had appeared drunk. The schoolteacher had allowed the child to leave with its father, but was now worried, and had phoned to report this to the Social Worker. The Social Worker discussed whether or not she should go to the child’s house to find out whether the child was ok, but she was worried about facing the father and his friend if they were drunk. The father had by the Social Worker’s account been aggressive in the past. The Social Worker discussed this with her two colleagues, and then by the duty Senior Social Worker who wandered into the office to check up on the

151

duty session. In the end it was agreed through this quite informal discussion, that the Social Worker should go and visit the family, but accompanied by a colleague.

Formal inscription of a case becomes necessary when the case is required to be rendered visible for external scrutiny, whether audit, public enquiry, or simply the process of a hearing or case conference. At this point the file must give full account of the work done on the case, decisions made and the evidence upon which such decisions were based. Again, the file must stand alone and speak for the case, but in this instance, the file speaks not only for the circumstances of the case, but for the work done and judgements made by Social Workers on the case. It becomes evidence by which the competence of the Social Worker is judged.

I

,