INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

not explicity prohibit corporal punishment, leaving it to the discretion of the care
mothers. I did not witness or hear of any instances of corporal punishment throughout my
time there, suggesting that it was either rare, or dealt with in a very private manner.
I told the children the story as a group and invited them to draw scenes. In order to
check for their problem-solving patterns, I asked what could be done next time to avoid
the same problem. Most of them agreed that on the next shopping trip, the boy’s sister
should be sent instead. This is consistent with two other things I had observed about the
children at the center. Culturally, family interdependence was valued much more highly,
and it was perfectly natural for a sibling or family member to assume a responsibility if
one was unable to adequately perform it. This was also consistent with the expectations
for children who had experienced childhood trauma to display some degree of learned
helplessness.
After sharing that bedtime story with the boys’ department, we went to the girls’
wing to see if we would notice similar tendencies. We began by talking to them and
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