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.