ABSTRACT
In 1970s the Norwegian public care services have undergone a process of modernization. In the light of research into Norwegian home help services the author investigates this process as a development that can be broken down into three phases: traditional care, followed by modern services, followed by late modern outputs. In order to present the analysis behind these three phases the author uses a model that describes relevant phases and dimensions of power. Power exists in the everyday interactions between people and in the way these interactions are organized, for example in the way care services for the elderly are organized. The demand for professionalization arose within the space of structural power due to organizational and demographic changes, but it had a significant and direct impact on caregivers and their relations to care recipients. Thus a contractual relation with significant legal aspects is established with the purpose of strengthening the power of both recipients and givers.
