INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

suggests about children’s backgrounds prior to arriving at the center. I looked at how the
center meets recurring struggles and finds the resources to meet children’s needs during
their upbringing. I also looked ahead to the aging out process to determine what kind of
adulthood the children were heading towards.
I constantly took notes and committed to memory details such as physical space
or social atmosphere. I sought to expand those observations into an interpretation of the
challenges and opportunities that come with living at the center. I paid close attention to
the daily schedules that the children adhered to, practices in discipline and how ethics
were taught and enforced. Also of interest to me were relational ties, between peers, or
between staff members and children. I made an effort to recognize the dynamic between
biological siblings, or pseudo-sibling relationships that had developed. One other
observation that could not be ignored was how the center’s boundaries acted as an
insulator between the children and the environmental violence.
While living at the center, I sought out individual interviews at non-disruptive
times, so I could gain some deeper insight to go along with my observations. Depending
on whom I interviewed, I chose an age-and-role-appropriate set of questions, focused on
each individual’s experience with the center and their own perception. These questions
can be found in the appendix section at the end of this report. I also interviewed adults
and staff members during the day, while the children were at school and while they were
more free to talk for a longer amount of time. I interviewed children during open periods
of free play or recreation or even meal times, usually when they were undistracted and an
opportunity for a longer conversation presented itself. I made sure that my interviews
included a diverse range of informants from the center, including its director, a long time
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