Toward an Account of Relational Autonomy in Healthcare and Treatment Settings

doi:10.1558/eph.31406

Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism, Vol 24, No 1 (2016)

Toward an Account of Relational Autonomy in Healthcare and Treatment Settings

Simone Lee Joannou

Issued Date: 20 Sep 2016

Abstract

Currently held conceptions of autonomy that inform biomedicine are inadequate and oppressive. Liberal notions of individualism are anti-humanist and constitute pernicious socialization, which leads to internalized oppression and dehumanization, especially among already oppressed groups. Women in recovery from addiction and other mental illnesses are especially affected by anti-humanist conceptions of autonomy. I argue that these women need to receive treatment that supports autonomy through supplementing psychiatric and rehabilitative therapy with humanistic education and group therapy. Treatment must encourage the construction of healthy social interaction that augments a sense of supported autonomy.

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DOI: 10.1558/eph.31406

References

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