PROFESSIONALIZATION PARADOX MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: THE CASE OF A HOME HELP ASSOCIATION

Abstract

The first home help association were created in the 1940s to make visible domestic activity, to participate in the recognition of employees and jobs in the sector (Puissant, 2012). Nonetheless, the strong growth of home care has created multiple paradoxes reflecting a move from qualification to professionalization. This article looks at the strategies mobilized by the actors of a home help association to deal with the paradoxes of professionalization. Based on a case study of a home help association, we use a qualitative methodology. The results show that the transition from a qualification to a professionalization of a sector creates paradoxes. The results highlight the major role played by the strategies mobilized by the actors. However, the mobilization of the strategies remains fragile since beyond this professionalization, the actors testify three constraints that are temporal, physical and psychological. The results are used to feed the literature on the paradoxes of social and medico-social, the nature of the strategies developed by the actors and the role of discussion areas as a place for strategic conversation.