Abstract
Social welfare studies in the last few decades have been arguing the nature of respecting client autonomy. Since these studies focused on the methodology for the realization of autonomy-respecting, neither the definition of autonomy nor the object that one should respect has been fully investigated. Therefore, in order to clarify these points, both the theoretical concept of autonomy and the clients' competence in relation to it need to be clarified. The aim of this paper is to reveal both the theoretical concept of autonomy and the respect for it, which are considered to be important from the ethical point of view in social welfare. After reviewing previous studies on this topic, I have developed the concept of autonomy as competence composed of four internal factors: "agency", "preferences", "rationality", and "expression". Moreover, I have referred to "environment" as an external factor, which has an immense influence on the four internal factors. This approach enables us to realize what is deficient in the so-called non-autonomous people discussed in previous studies and how such people should be supported. Additionally, this paper suggests an alternative perspective against dominant theories that suggest that the ability of self-determination is regarded as highly valued.
