Rise of the Network Society
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At the end of 2009, the Electronic Child Record (ECR) must replace all paper records in Dutch youth healthcare, i.e. digital dossiers containing health and psycho-social data on children aged 0-19. At the same time, society demands a more effective youth-care system, due to several family tragedies that gave rise to high media attention as well as growing problems with high-risk youth. These developments form the impetus for fundamental changes in youth care in respect of the relationship between children and youth-care professionals, connectivity of information systems, transparency (or rather opacity) of organisations and information systems, and the construction and use of children's identities. The ECR seems to have acquired a dynamic of its own and is steadily moving forward to becoming embedded in an ever more sophisticated system of controlling the socio-psychological and physical development of youngsters-at-risk. Hence, the goals of the ECR may be gradually shifting from achieving more efficiency vis-à-vis social sorting and risk-management systems. This development has side effects that should be addressed by policy makers to truly promote the interests of children and citizens more generally.