Failure in the capacity to choose is a failure of autonomy. Strictly speaking,
failure of autonomy means a failure to be your own person. Being
someone else's person means wanting what you think the other wants. This
does not happen primarily because others force us to do their bidding. It
happens because we cannot find ourselves and our own needs, or if we do,
we falter because we feel that acting places us in danger - for example, the
danger that we might lose the regard or affection of others. Autonomy is the
sense of having an inner core capable of identifying wants and pursuing their
satisfaction (Kohut 1977; Winnicott 1965). It enables us to choose and thus
take advantage of the opportunities made available by the presence of alternatives
and by the legal standing associated with property ownership.