interesting blog post: On SRV and mistaken identity
I recommend reading the following blog post by Betsy Neuville at Keystone, and following the blog if you have not done so already.
Marc Tumeinski
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bandwidth of social roles
In his later writing about Social Role Valorization, Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger taught about the concept of bandwidth applied to social roles, whether socially valued roles or socially devalued roles (SRV monograph, Wolfensberger, 1998, 3rd rev. ed. published in 2004, pp. 31-32). Social role bandwidth ranges from broad and life defining to narrow and circumscribed.
In an undergraduate course on human services which I am currently teaching, I shared with my students a little bit about this concept. They had some good questions and comments about it. As part of our discussion, I was trying to think of some questions we could ask ourselves to identify the bandwidth of an actual role that someone holds, whether a socially valued role or a socially devalued one. For some roles, this may be fairly easy. The valued role of employee is typically of a wide bandwidth for example. For some roles though it may not be as easy to get a sense of the bandwidth of a particular role, either in the abstract or of a particular role as actually held by a real person.
* Why might having a sense of role bandwidth be important when providing support to a devalued person, to an adult or child with impairments?
* What questions might we ask about a particular role (in the abstract or in a role actually held by a person or group) to get a sense of its bandwidth? Here are a few questions that we discussed. This is by no means an exhaustive list nor are each of these questions necessarily universally applicable. There may be exceptions of course.
• where is the role carried out: many places, some places, few and very specific places? (a wider bandwidth role may be carried out in more places)
• when/how often is the role carried out: every day, or week, or month, or year, or years? (a wider bandwidth role may be carried out more often)
• how much time is spent in the role: alot, some, a little (a wider bandwidth role may take up more of a person or group’s time)
• how many activities are related to the role: many, some, only a few? (a wider bandwidth role may have more role related activities associated with it)
• how public (or private) is the role? (a wider bandwidth role may be more public)
• does the role have any secondary/derived roles? (e.g., a work role is typically a high bandwidth role that can lead to roles of friend, student, trainer, taxpayer, bank customer, co-worker, customer, boss, airline traveler, hotel guest, etc., etc.)
As always, please comment with other thoughts, suggestions or questions.
Marc Tumeinski
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Sunday NY Times: A Facial Theory of Politics
The 22 April Sunday New York Times article entitled ‘A facial theory of politics’ bears relevance to Social Role Valorization theory teaching about image enhancement. The article discusses how the personal appearance of candidates for political office has a measurable influence on how people vote.
As taught in SRV and PASSING, one of the aspects or channels of image enhancement is personal appearance. The various elements of personal appearance, individually and in combination (SRV monograph, Wolfensberger, 2004, p. 68; APPEAR Tool, Wolfensberger, 2009, p. 15) do influence social perception, how we perceive other people. The article reported on a series of studies looking at what appearance factors contributed to a perception that someone is ‘more able,’ as this could have a bearing on voting. What appearance factors contributed to a perception of ability? From the article:
“… for example, eyes with more curvature on the top than the bottom; hair that is short and parted on the side or combed back; a hairline that comes to a slight widow’s peak; a broad or round face; and a smile.”
This quote highlights some things we cannot typically control (e.g., eye shape) but also some simple things we can influence (e.g., hair style, a smile).
Our perceptions of others lead us to make judgments about these others, including about their personal qualities. From the article:
“The photos were not of actual candidates but of models (all white males dressed in coat and tie) whose visages, in a prior survey with different volunteers, had been given either high or low marks with regard to perceived qualities like integrity, competence and leadership ability.”
A person’s image will affect how others perceive the person, positively or negatively, and thus can influence whether others will offer that person socially valued roles, positive opportunities for growth and learning, greater access to the ‘good things of life,’ etc. (SRV monograph, Wolfensberger, 2004, p. 62; APPEAR Tool, Wolfensberger, 2009, pp. 17, 23). From the article:
“It turns out that a candidate’s appearance — not beauty, but a look of competence — can generate a far greater vote swing than we previously thought. Furthermore, this effect is not only powerful but also subliminal. Few of us believe that appearance determines our vote, yet for a significant number of us, it may.”
Personal appearance does affect how others perceive and treat a person. As service workers, family, friend or informal helper, we can support socially devalued people, including children and adults with impairments, to have a more positive personal appearance, consistent with the societal values of their culture, their social role, the physical and social environment, etc. Thankfully, we do not even have to have the deep resources of political handlers to do so!
Marc Tumeinski
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new publication by Wolf Wolfensberger
Valor Press announces
‘Advanced Issues in Social Role Valorization Theory’
Author: Wolf Wolfensberger PhD, 1934-2011
About the book
The first two chapters explain SRV, and give depth and background to SRV as an empirical theory that is applicable to human services of all kinds, to all sorts of people. The remaining chapters are all revised and expanded versions of presentations that Dr. Wolfensberger had given at previous international SRV conferences. The topics treated in the chapters move from the general (chapters 2, 3, and 4) to the more specific (chapters 5, 6, and 7).
The contents of the book are especially useful for people who do, or want to, teach SRV; for SRV researchers; and for those interested in implementing SRV in a systematic way, especially in service fields where SRV is new, not yet known, and not widely—if at all—embraced.
About Wolf Wolfensberger (1934-2011)
World renowned human service reformer, Professor Wolfensberger (Syracuse University) was involved in the development and dissemination of the principle of normalization and the originator of the program evaluation tools PASS 3 and PASSING, and of a number of service approaches that include SRV and Citizen Advocacy.
This book includes the following chapters
FOREWORD by Michael Kendrick
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1 A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL ROLE VALORIZATION
CHAPTER 2 THE ROLE OF THEORY IN SCIENCE, AND CRITERIA FOR A DEFINITION OF SOCIAL ROLE VALORIZATION AS AN EMPIRICALLY-BASED THEORY
CHAPTER 3 THE HIERARCHY OF PROPOSITIONS OF SOCIAL ROLE VALORIZATION, & THEIR EMPIRICALITY
CHAPTER 4 THE RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIAL ROLE VALORIZATION THEORY TO WORLDVIEWS AND VALUES
CHAPTER 5 VALUES ISSUES AND OTHER NON-EMPIRICAL ISSUES THAT ARE BROUGHT INTO SHARP FOCUS BY, OR AT, OCCASIONS WHERE SOCIAL ROLE VALORIZATION IS TAUGHT OR IMPLEMENTED
CHAPTER 6 ISSUES OF CHANGE AGENTRY IN THE TEACHING, DISSEMINATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL ROLE VALORIZATION
CHAPTER 7 THE APPLICATION OF SOCIAL ROLE VALORIZATION PRINCIPLES TO CRIMINAL & OTHER DETENTIVE SETTINGS
CONCLUSION TO THE BOOK
Hardcover: 432 pages
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-9868040-5-2
Copyright ©: 2012, Valor Press
Product Dimensions: 22 x 15 x 3 cm
Shipping Weight: 0.75 Kg
Available: May 2012
Price: 80$ cdn + shipping & handling
Valor Press
Valor Institute
200 du Comté Road
P.O. Box 110
Plantagenet, Ontario K0B 1L0
1.613.673.3583
or write to Sylvie Duchesne at sduchesne@instvalor.ca
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SRV in the News – April 17th, 2012
Due to the fact that it has been some time since I posted my last entry, I will leave several links here for you to view with a brief elaboration of the SRV themes they touch on:
The topic of elder abuse and exploitation is explored in this upcoming documentary. Previously I have posted about the devaluation that seniors face in our society. Unfortunately, it appears that practices such as the ones described in the above trailer are becoming more and more common, especially during periods of financial hardship.
In this article we see elderly people placed in the historic negative role of ridicule, as well as the role of child. Marc has previously posted about robot teddys for the elderly, and the use of robotic seals can be seen in much the same vein. The SRV theme of imagery is important in providing us with an understanding of the damage that such an object can bring. While the servers themselves may be well intentioned, the image damage for the elders who live in nursing homes that use robotic animals is truly devastating.
There has been mixed reaction in Ontario to the use of “martial arts blockers” in a class for autistic children in Barrie. In our most recent meeting of the Southern Ontario SRV Study Group, we discussed how such a practice can block efforts towards interpersonal identification of students with autism by placing them in the very negative role of menace.
Steve Tiffany
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Senior’s Summer Camps
Last week, the media in Atlantic Canada was touting Senior’s Summer Camps as an innovative and entrepreneurial idea. According to the article, Halifax, Nova Scotia will be the sight of “The Heart and Soul Summer Arts Camp aimed at seniors experiencing physical, cognitive and financial challenges”. The camp will focus mostly on the arts along with physical activity.
Previously in this column I have talked about programs for seniors that communicate a child-like image for their participants, despite their intended benefits. For example, this program placed a Kindergarten classroom in the common room of a nursing home.
While the senior’s summer camps do not plan to serve seniors alongside children, I would argue that the “second childhood” role is attached to participants of the program though the language (i.e. “summer arts camp”) used to describe it. In most cases in our culture “campers” are children who embark on an overnight trip in a wilderness-type setting, engaging in various sport and outdoor activities. Increasingly, camp has also come to refer to a summer day-care program where children are sent in lieu of school. While there are countless day programs for seniors across North America (of which there are many SRV related issues), the use of the summer camp language and imagery in this program is particularly troubling.
Steve Tiffany
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article ‘New model of food pantry helps people maintain their dignity’
This January 2012 newspaper article highlighted, among other issues, efforts by a local food pantry to enhance both image and competency of people using the pantry: ‘The new location allows it to be set up like a grocery store to give people a sense of dignity … Where before volunteers pre-bagged food and handed it to people … now people have the option to choose things they like to eat.’ Such an approach is thus potentially more role-valorizing for the people coming to the pantry for food. To be clear, the article did not use role language but that is my interpretation of what the food pantry is reportedly doing.
This practice still raises questions pertinent to the culturally valued analog concept in Social Role Valorization (SRV monograph by Wolfensberger, 1998, pp. 117-118; PASSING ratings manual, Wolfensberger & Thomas, 2007, pp. 30-31). The culturally valued analog provides for a baseline in a sense: what is the range of societally valued and expected practices that can act as a model or standard for a particular service practice? How are such needs generally met for socially valued people in valued ways in the valued culture or society? For example, the culturally valued analog for residential services includes the different forms of home which are socially valued, with which we are familiar, and of which we hold positive expectations (PASSING manual, Wolfensberger & Thomas, 2007, p. 30).
What is the culturally valued analog for putting food on the table and feeding one’s family? It would likely include a range of options, such as shopping in a market, using a gift card at certain shops, shopping at a farmer’s market, eating out, eating with family or at a friend’s house, borrowing some specific groceries from a neighbor under certain circumstances, growing some of your food at home or in a community plot (at least in certain geographic locales and during certain times of the year), buying or splitting or working a share in a community supported farm, and so on. In light of the culturally valued analog, getting food from a food pantry, even if it is becoming more typical for more people in these hard economic times, is still generally not a positively valued practice surrounded by positive expectations, even with the positive adaptations mentioned in the article referenced above.
Another level of SRV-based consideration of course is address of need. If you have no food, getting food is a pressing need obviously, so a food pantry can at least provide some immediate help in partly addressing that need quite directly. However, the culturally valued analog also asks us to consider the how of addressing relevant need.
For more on this issue, see an article published in the 2004 SRV-VRS: The International Social Role Valorization Journal, 5(1&2), 72-74.
Marc Tumeinski
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US Bureau of Justice Statistics: Crime Against Persons With Disabilities, 2008-2010 – Statistical Tables
A report from the US Bureau of Justice. I have not started reviewing this material yet, and so may have more to post on in the future, but even the highlights are sadly instructive about the predictable impacts of social and societal devaluation on people in heightened vulnerability:
“In 2010, for both males and females the age-adjusted rate of violent crime was greater for those with disabilities than the rate against those without disabilities. The rate for males with disabilities was 23 per 1,000, compared to 16 per 1,000 for males without disabilities; for females with disabilities the rate was 26 per 1,000, compared to 15 per 1,000 for females without disabilities.”
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Social Role Valorization theme: model coherency (post #3 in a series)
‘Chronic criminal disease: An SRV-based critique of drug addiction services’ by Susanne Hartfiel
The above December 2006 article published in The SRV Journal applied the construct of relevance, potency and model coherency to addiction services. The article is based on the author’s study of two methadone programs in two German cities. The analysis of assumptions (one of the elements of model coherency as it was laid out by Wolfensberger) and of the likely implications of these assumptions for human service is very instructive. Note also that the author ties in the concept of social roles to model coherency, a point briefly made in my last post.
Marc Tumeinski
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‘Wolf Wolfensberger – A tribute’
A link to an online tribute to the person, influence and ideas of Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger as change agent.
Marc Tumeinski
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