Child welfare in the legal setting [electronic resource] : a critical and interpretive perspective / Thomas M. O'Brien.

Beginnings
The institutional context of child welfare
Governance, legitimacy, and trust
Multiple dimensions of child welfare governance
The organizational context of practice
The legal system as host setting : context and history
Images and realities of the legal system : metaphor, myths, and stereotypes
The courts
The concentric systems view of child welfare
The rationalization of child welfare intervention
Life in narrative and drama : meaning, self, and identity
Social intervention as ritualized action
Ethics, values, and integrity
Conclusion.