Information about roles on an accounting website (!)

I’m not sure why this page of information about social roles is on this website about accountants in San Diego, but it is! Note the references to SRV listed under

‘Web resources.’

Posted on June 14, 2010 at 8:14 am by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: 

Braddock Library at IDHD, Univ. of Illinois

The Braddock library at the Institute on Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois in Chicago (US), contains a number of items from the collections of David Braddock and of Wolfensberger. Note that the catalog is online, NOT the actual materials.

Posted on June 8, 2010 at 12:07 pm by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: 

Another SRV-related piece mysteriously ends up on the web

OK, I’ve asked this before, but how do these kinds of SRV articles end up on the web? I’m glad it’s there, but how did it get there?

Posted on June 7, 2010 at 8:09 am by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: 

Iwawa Island, Rwanda

One of my (admittedly narrow) interests in human service history has been in the location of various types of human service programs, including but not limited to prisons, on islands. This NY Times article describes how the government in Rwanda has been sending beggars, homeless people and petty criminals to an island in Lake Kiwu for ‘rehabilitation.’ From the article:

Nearly 900 beggars, homeless people and suspected petty thieves, including dozens of children, have recently been rounded up from the nation’s neatly swept streets and sent — without trial or a court appearance — to this little-known outpost.

Such a practice illustrates segregation and congregation, isolated dislocation, deindividualization and mass management, etc. Again, from the article:

As a boatload of officials recently glided onto shore, one police commissioner gestured to the birds, the trees and the young men with uniformly shaved heads fetching water and said, “Welcome to our Hawaii.” But on the mainland, people describe it as an Alcatraz. “We call it the island of no return,” said Esperance Uwizeyimana, a homeless mother of four.

Certainly a bit of detoxification from the police commissioner … and also from the same article:

“This isn’t a good place for children,” one employee said in hushed tones because the minister was nearby. “They could get abused.”

If you have examples of services located on islands, either current services or historical examples, please post a comment about it. I will write in future posts about other examples of island services that I have heard of and/or studied.

Posted on June 4, 2010 at 9:23 am by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: , , , , ,

5 Reasons Why People Devalue the Elderly

Blog posting on Euthanasia Prevention Coalition which references Wolfensberger and Social Role Valorization.

Posted on June 1, 2010 at 10:55 am by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: ,

Blog by Bill Forman

Our good friend and colleague Bill Forman just started a blog, in which he plans to write about a variety of topics, including SRV and human service-related ones. Knowing Bill, his blog will be a great read, fascinating and humorous to boot!

Posted on June 1, 2010 at 9:47 am by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized

Wolfensberger, deathmaking and devalued roles

From the UK, a recent blog post which mentions Dr. Wolfensberger, deathmaking and devalued roles. Apparently, the blog writer is concerned about deathmaking in relation to people in the UK with chronic fatigue syndrome. I’m not sure what to make of this connection but it is interesting that the blog writer uses Wolfensberger’s framework to voice his concerns.

Posted on May 27, 2010 at 8:11 am by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: , ,

Reflect on roles: place in society

Social roles, valued and devalued, give one a place in society, whether a high or low place, valued status or devalued status (p. 39, A brief introduction to Social Role Valorization, Wolfensberger, Training Institute for Human Service Planning, Leadership and Change Agentry, 2004). What place or position do your own social roles give to you? How do others perceive you and what do they expect of you because of your roles and accompanying places/statuses in society?

Posted on May 24, 2010 at 3:08 pm by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: 

Day 3 of the philosophy of personalism workshop

On day 3 of the philosophy of personalism workshop, we learned about the importance of assuming personal (moral) responsibility. We also learned about some of the major writers and thinkers of personalism, particularly but not exclusively personalism in the French tradition (e.g., thinkers like Emmanuel Mounier, Jacques Maritain, Peter Maurin, Peter Kropotkin, Nikolai Berdyayev).

Posted on May 20, 2010 at 9:14 am by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: ,

Day 2 of personalism workshop

During day 2 of the philosophy of personalism workshop, we learned about the value of each and every person. We also discussed the principle of subsidiarity.

Posted on May 19, 2010 at 8:56 pm by MTumeinski · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: ,