This workshop provides an introduction to Social Role Valorization (SRV), developed by Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger, one of the most influential thinkers in the field of human services worldwide. Wolfensberger’s work helped lay the foundation for many current human service trends, including the development of community services, integration, self-determination and rights, and person-centered planning.
SRV is a systematic & universally applicable concept for structuring human services, for direct service and for families. Its foundation is in the fields of psychology, sociology & broad human experience. SRV describes a close relationship between the socially perceived value of the roles that people hold, & whether people in those roles will be accorded opportunities & other ‘good things of life.’ Bad things tend to get done to people who are seen in devalued roles, & good things tend to be afforded to people in positively valued roles.
Topics to be explored include: the universality of social devaluation; the defining power of roles in people’s lives; strategies for pursuing socially valued roles for devalued people, with an aim toward improving their life conditions; enhancement of people’s social images; & enhancement of people’s competencies. The workshop offers a critical SRV-based look at many contemporary human service practices.
