Der Handlungskomplex Entscheiden am Beispiel der „Unterstützten Entscheidungs-findung“ in der rechtlichen Betreuung

Abstract This paper discusses communicative decision making as an ‚action complex‘. To this end it combines empirical results on communicative decision-making processes from different fields (law, medicine, economics, politics) and compiles the constitutive action components therein. The results obtained through this are then further differentiated by analyses of “Supported Decision Making” in the German Betreuungsrecht (adult guardianship). The analyses led to the conclusion that the action complex can be described as a selection process, which is composed of different stages. Each stage can be reconstructed as a decision-making process in its own right (including a decision each). Thus, decision making systematically consists of several decision-making processes. The analyses show how participants negotiate their communicative movements through the action complex and how decisions emerge in the process.