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Chapter 2: Literature Review
Horanson Hawks (1991) also concluded from a concept analysis of power that it is
integral to relationships:
“The actual or potential ability or capacity to achieve objectives through an
interpersonal process in which the goals and means to achieve the goals are
mutually established and worked through”
(Horanson Hawks, 1991, pp.754)
Horanson Hawks (1991) presented four defining attributes of power: 1) the actual or
potential ability or capacity to achieve objectives or attain goals, 2) an interpersonal
process, 3) mutual establishment of goals and the means to achieve the goals and 4)
mutually working toward the goals. Antecedents were identified as: 1) the presence
of two or more people, 2) the acquisition of power skills such as trust,
communication skills, knowledge, concern, caring, respect and courtesy, 3)
possession of at least one of the four power sources – informational, referent, expert
or legitimate, 4) an orientation of power as good, and 5) self-confidence.
Further defining terms are also identified. Webster’s online dictionary states that
self-government is a defining term for autonomy: “The quality or state of being self-
governing; the right of self-government, self-directing freedom and moral
independence”. Similarly, Mill (1975), Horowitz, Silverstone and Reinhardt(1991),
and Agich (2004) suggest that autonomy is the right to self-determine or self-govern
for oneself, one’s interests, goals and values, and one’s own conception of a good
life free from unwarranted interference, thus concurring with the original Greek
definition of “self-rule”. Agich (2004, pp.6) identified freedom, independence and
self-determination as defining terms for autonomy in his definition but also added
that autonomy is “equivalent to dignity, integrity, individuality, responsibility and
self-knowledge, whilst containing the qualities of self-assertion, critical reflection
and knowledge of one’s own interest”.
The complexity of the concept of autonomy was recognised by Feinberg (1989) who
claimed that there are at least four different meanings of autonomy in moral and
political philosophy. Further to using commonly understood terms like freedom and
independence to attempt to define autonomy, some authors tried to explain its
meaning by differentiating it according to “types” of autonomy and explaining its