ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the processes – and challenges – that are connected to performing the work of caring for other people's bodies in Danish accommodation facilities for people with intellectual disability (ID). It builds on a sociological investigation of the bodily, interactive processes and power relations that unfold when the professionals are helping residents with daily tasks such as using the toilet, getting up and getting dressed in the morning and showering and so on. Social pedagogues – together with nurses and care workers in different sectors and settings – are involved in practices directed at and in direct contact with the body of the dependent other, its fluids and waste. The chapter also focuses on the dimension of social pedagogical practice which revolves around caregiving, and in particular bodywork – work directed at and in direct contact with the body of the person in need of help.
