The dynamics of trust and risk take different forms in relation to different social issues and sites of social life. A striking feature of this is that children have become key subjects around whom contemporary obsessions with risk are focused (Jackson and Scott, 1999). From the predatory paedophile to the "cruel" parent who abuses and kills their child, child abuse and risk now have a compelling hold on the popular imagination and public policy. A vital feature of this situation is that the focus is not simply on the tragedy of child abuse and death itself, but the relationship between trust and risk and the experts and professional systems that work with the problem.