Meltdowns and containments - Constructions of children at risk as complex systems

Throughout the past decade, calls for experimentation and innovation in chi ldren's services have proliferated in the US. The current tide of reform in children's services is linked not only to shifting social welfare structur es but also to transformations in conceptions of the nature of childhood an d children's needs. Using illustrations from one demonstration project of ' wraparound' services, I suggest that these emerging programs may embed noti ons of children as 'complex systems' - ideas that differ significantly from accounts of child development as a linear, staged and goal-oriented progre ssion.