Paternalism

Paternalism is action that limits a person's or group's liberty or autonomy and is intended to promote their own good. Paternalism can also imply that the behavior is against or regardless of the will of a person, or also that the behavior expresses an attitude of superiority. Paternalism, paternalistic and paternalist have all been used as a pejorative.
Some such as John Stuart Mill think paternalism to be appropriate towards children, saying:
Paternalism towards adults is sometimes thought of as treating them as if they were children.
Etymology.
The word "paternalism" derives from the adjective "paternal", which entered the English language in the 15th century from Old French "paternel" (cf. Old Occitan "paternal", as in Catalan, Spanish and Portuguese), itself from Medieval Latin "paternalis". The classical Latin equivalent was "paternus" "fatherly", from "pater" "father".
Types.
Soft and hard.
Soft paternalism is the view that paternalism is justified only if an action to be committed is involuntary. John Stuart Mill gives the example of a person about to walk across a damaged bridge. One cannot tell the person the bridge is damaged as he does not speak our language. According to soft paternalism, one would be justified in forcing him to not cross the bridge so one could find out whether he knows about the damage. If he knows and wants to jump off the bridge and commit suicide then one should allow him to. Hard paternalists say that at least sometimes one is entitled to prevent him from crossing the bridge and committing suicide.
Pure and impure.
Pure paternalism is paternalism where the person(s) having their liberty or autonomy taken away are those being protected. Impure paternalism occurs when the class of people whose liberty or autonomy is violated by some measure is wider than the group of persons thereby protected.
Moral and welfare.
Moral paternalism is where paternalism is justified to promote the moral well-being of a person(s) even if their welfare would not improve. For example, it could be argued that someone should be prevented from prostitution even if they make a decent living off it and their health is protected. A moral paternalist would argue that it is ethical considering they believe prostitution to be morally corrupting.
Criteria for effective paternalism.
Thomas Pogge argues that there are a number of criteria for paternalism. 
Opponents.
In his "Two Treatises of Government", John Locke argues (against Robert Filmer) that political and paternal power are not the same.
John Stuart Mill opposes state paternalism on the grounds that individuals know their own good better than the state does, that the moral equality of persons demands respect for others' liberty, and that paternalism disrupts the development of an independent character. In "On Liberty", he writes:
Mill, however, disregards his own analysis when it comes to colonial subjects. He writes:
Mill declares barbarians to be in need of paternalism. But he narrowly defines barbarism historically, geographically, and economically insofar as to declare it fit to describe the people he intends to describe as such. If colonial venture can be deemed barbarian in the sense of its violence, subjugation, and rape on a mass scale, then despotism is a legitimate form of dealing with Mill, proponents of colonialism, and colonial states and statesmen.
Contemporary opponents of paternalism often appeal to the ideal of personal autonomy.