Contextualising everyday ethics in social care work based on two case studies of Norwegian long-term care

The ageing population and long-term care policies of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries have put pressure on social care work, creating patterns of difficult ethical situations. This article contributes to contextualising such situations by applying a ‘micro-ethics’ perspective and a theoretical framework that connects micro-ethics to macro-sociological contexts, and combines the concept of ‘moral distress’ (of healthcare professionals) with feminist ethics. Based on two case studies from an ethnographic study of Norway’s long-term care, findings demonstrate how ethically difficult moments connect with structural factors, including bureaucratic, managerialist and de-professionalised models of social care work, and new relationships between older people and their families.