ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with illuminating any changes in ideas on the practice and theory of recording in American social work in the period marked by the dates of first publication that is 1920-1946. It discusses the purposes of recording and the obstacles in the way of the creation of good records. The chapter describes several phases of recording in social work. For Ada Eliot Sheffield the record is the social case history, and she begins by stating the crucial importance of clarity about the purpose for which such a history is compiled and kept. The nature of a social case history is determined by the kinds of purpose it is intended to subserve. The phase of social work recording concerns the process record. A process record attempts to present an account of the interaction between social worker and client as this develops in the course of an interview.
