ABSTRACT
One of the main criticisms of the Kantian 'respect for persons' as the central social work ethic is that its focus is primarily on the relationship between the social worker and the client, to the extent that this relationship is removed from the social context in which social work is practiced. Respect for persons is based on the notion of the 'general human individual' and thereby separates the individual and ethical issues from the 'subjective' context of any individual's social world or social situation. The social worker's role is to provide 'treatment' to 'cure' the client's problem: 'Thus the client is at the receiving end of professional control, leading to an unequal exchange which perpetuates the ever increasing dependency of the client on the one hand and never decreasing control of the professional on the other'. Within the context of social work, the value of self-determination as positive freedom lies not so much in its inherent worth as 'a right'.
