Can care be conceived in/from prison?Reflections from Sectors for Mothers with Children in Argentina and France

Care as «the production of life» and prison as an institution of punitive confinement appear to be antagonistic elements. However, prison also refers to spaces of life and a network of relationships that occur on a daily basis and could not survive without care. Within some prisons, there are specific spaces that accommodate women prisoners with their young children. These children are the legitimate recipients of multiple forms of care, of which their mothers appear to be «collateral» beneficiaries. However, this distinction between «legitimate» and «collateral’ or «illegitimate» beneficiaries does not account for the complex relational and care dynamics in these prison spaces. Based on two ethnographic studies conducted among mothers with children in France and Argentina, the article highlights the difficulties involved in considering care as a priority for prison workers and offers an analysis of the aforementioned dynamics in terms of the specific structures and actors involved (female prisoners, prison guards, teachers, childcare professionals). Mechanisms that support different configurations of care are clarified. In the background, the article supports the idea of a potential and mutual contribution between the perspective of care and the analysis of the prison universe.