ABSTRACT
Successful administration of the disorderly child is, I have argued, tied to a
thorough knowledge of the disorderly child, and the expert is integral to both
of these. Such expertise makes possible special programmes such as Kool Kids,
ZKLFKLGHQWL¿HVDQGZRUNVZLWKFRQGXFWGLVRUGHUHGFKLOGUHQWXUQLQJWKHPIURP ‘naughty to nice’. Referring to Foucault’s (1988g: 107) assertion that ‘truth is no
doubt a form of power’, it can be argued that a function of truth is the operation
of action on the actions of others. The truth of conduct disorder not only has the
function of naming the disorderly child, but can also divide this child from others
by certifying actions such as segregation from regular schooling. In this sense the
expert can be described in terms of the third point in Foucault’s (1983b: 223) ana-
lytics of power, as a ‘means of bringing power relations into being’. In this sense
the administration of disorderly children takes on a more complex dimension: that
is, controlling, segregating, disciplining or excluding these children is connected
with both complex truths and practices of power. When, for example, a child is
segregated from school because they are deemed disorderly, the administrator of
this action is not only connected to the truths of the expert, and the truths of diag-
nosis, they are also ‘bringing power relations into being’.
