Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger

1. Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger Historical Person Report Jenny Gossman October 6, 2008

2. Background • Born in Mannheim, Germany in 1934 • Emigrated to United States in 1950 • Education: • Studied Philosophy at Siena College in Memphis • Masters in Clinical Psychology from Saint Louis University • PHD in Psychology from Peabody College • Specialized in Mental Retardation and SPED

3. Career • 1964-1971: MR research scientist at Nebraska Psychiatric Institute • 1971-1973: Visiting Scholar at the National Institute on MR in Toronto, Canada • Presently: Director of the training institute for Human Service Planning, Leadership and Change Agentry at Syracuse University in New York

4. Work, Books, and Awards • Concerned with: • Ideologies • Structures and Planning Patterns of Human Service Systems (Focusing on people with MR and their families) • Authored and Co-Authored more than 40 books and monographs • Written over 250 Chapters and Articles • Stirring and Controversial Speaker • 1999: Selected as 1 of 35 most influential people on MR studies in the 20th Century

5. Social Role Valorization • Wolfensberger was the Foremost Propagator of Normalization • Originator of Citizen Advocacy and Social Role Valorization • Continually explored, advanced, and refined the principle of normalization • SRV: Addresses the devaluation of impaired and other vulnerable people in society • Established by drawing upon role theory, learning theory, function and power of social imagery, group dynamics, sociology of deviancy, etc.

6. Social Role Valorization • Basic Premise: • People are much more likely to experience the “good things in life” if they hold valued social roles than if they don’t. • Goal: • Create a socially valued role for “devalued people” • Who: • Those who are social devalued or at a heightened risk of becoming devalued. • Estimate in North America about ¼ of the population exists in a devalued state because of impairment, age, poverty, or other characteristics that are devalued

7. SRV • The “Good Things in Life”: • Family or intimate group • Place to call home • Belonging to a small-scale social body • Friends • Spiritual anchors: a belief system • Work that has meaning • Absence of imminent threats (starvation, death) • Opportunities to discover and develop one’s abilities, skills, gifts, and talents

8. SRV • The “Good Things in Life”: • To be viewed as a human • To be dealt with honestly • Have assurance that they will not be a victim of injustice • Being Treated as an individual • Having a Say in Decisions affecting one’s own life • Not being excluded from places of normal human interaction • Access to ordinary activities • Being able to contribute • Good Health

9. SRV • The “Bad Things in Life”: • Being perceived and interpreted as “deviant” • Being rejected by community, society and even family and services • Being cast into negative social roles: a Burden on Society • Being put and kept at a social of physical distance—segregation • Having negative images—including language– attached to them • Being the object of abuse, violence, and brutalization—including death

10. SRV • Strategies • Enhancement of people’s social image in the eyes of others • Enhancement or their competencies, in the widest sense of the term

11. Resources • http://www.srvip.org • http://www.socialrolevalorization.com • An Overview of Social Role Valorization Theory by Joe Osburn • Some of the Universal “Good Things of Life” Which the Implementation of Social Role Valorization Can be Expected to Make More Accessible to Devalued People by Wolf Wolfensberger, Susan Thomas, and Guy Caruso