Contributions to the field of human service
“Wolfensberger’s contributions to the field of human service
Joe Osburn – October 2018
Wolf Wolfensberger was a brilliant thinker, lucid writer, studious life-long scholar, and compelling teacher. Many people who attended his teaching events, seminars, and training workshops, or even only read his publications, were commonly deeply affected by them, often in life-changing ways. By these means, he made an impressive number of significant contributions to the broad sphere of human services, most particularly in regard to serving people who are socially devalued or highly vulnerable to becoming so. To be socially devalued means being perceived by others as of lesser value, and then in consequence, being treated by them in ways that are always hurtful, often deeply wounding, and sometimes even fatally so. Wolfensberger helped to address this reality by raising awareness of its origins, nature, and manifestations, and also by elucidating the means by which it could be addressed by those most directly affected by it, i.e., their families, friends, and allies, the devalued people themselves, and those who serve upon them in formal or informal service roles. His major contributions are briefly summarized below.”
- A Brief Note on Language Usage Joe Osburn & Susan Thomas, October 2018
- Principle of Normalization Susan Thomas & Joe Osburn, October 2018
- The Theory of Social Role Valorization Susan Thomas & Joe Osburn, October 2018
- PASS and PASSING Jack Pealer, November 2018
- Citizen Advocacy Tom Doody, November 2018
- Advocacy Systems John O’Brien, December 2018
- The Construct of Service Model Coherency Joe Osburn & Susan Thomas, April 2019
- Human Service Planning and Change Agentry Guy Caruso, PhD., November 2018,
- How to Function With Personal Moral Coherency in a Disfunctional Human Service World Bill Forman, November 2018
- Contributions to Role Theory Raymond Lemay, May 2019
- Contribution to the Developmental Model Zana Lutfiyya, March 2021
- Contribution to the History of Human Service Joe Osburn & Susan Thomas, February 2020
- Theological Perspectives On The Valuation And “Meaning” Of Human Impairment Jeff McNair, Ph.D., March 2019
- Deathmaking of Unwanted and Devalued People Susan Thomas, April 2017