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This article presents and discusses the turning points in the social assistance relationship in the field of support programs for vulnerable people. It is based on the comparative study of two periods (1945-2000 and 2000-present). These turning points are linked to rapid transformations in the political-economic field, the socio-organizational field, and in the field of the disciplines used to reflect on the capacities of empowerment of social assistance claimants. Two conceptions of the social assistance relationship are studied. The first, of psychosociological inspiration, considers autonomy as a project that must be supported; the second, of behaviorist and cognitivist inspiration, sees autonomy as already achieved, and considers that support should be aimed at lifting whatever obstacles may impede it.