INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

facilities before beginning a long bus ride to school. They would reappear at the center
around three the afternoon, when they would have a short snack break, homework
supervision, and then dinner. I participated in these activities either socially or in a
voluntary role such as tutoring. I was free to go into the recreation room of the teenage
boys’ dormitory during leisure hours which allowed me to spend time around the children
at a more unstructured time of day. Living in proximity to some of the younger children
afforded me that same level of access but for a younger age. Participating in mealtimes
allowed me to notice patterns in conversation, gossip, and joking. Joining the children
during supervised homework time gave me the opportunity to notice their habits during
times of work and study. Whenever there was an organized group activity at the center
involving all the children, I made sure to participate as fully as I could. During parts of
the day while the children were in school, I took the opportunity to spend more time with
the staff, observing and assisting with administrative chores and errands while talking to
workers about various aspects of their lives and roles.
The focus of my research was operations, challenges, approach, and dynamics of
5Cees. I wanted to examine both the perspective of the center as an organization and its
staff and children as individuals to construct an understanding of the relationship built
between the different parties. I sought an understanding of how the center worked to
ovecome challenges associated with childhood and how they worked through differences
in philosophy and approach. I found that the most helpful way to approach such a
complicated issue was to structure my observation around the three stages of life at the
center, which generally corresponded with three stages of institutionalization– intake,
residence, and aging out. Therefore, I explored the process of intake and what that
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