Social Domains and Concepts of Care Protection, Instruction, and Containment in After-School Programs

This article analyzes the design and implementation of a state-funded after-school program by focusing on the social domains of family, schooling, and law enforcement as they con-verge at the site of after-school care. In the contested terrain of after-school programs, these different domains incorporate divergent concepts of care that are forced into juxtaposition and engagement. Care is alternatively defined as nurturing protection, instruction, or con-tainment. The collision between these competing definitions explains some of the confusion and passion in debates about child care