We are very privileged to have John Armstrong back at Hearth Support Services today to conduct Lead Support Worker team training on Social Role Valorisation and its importance when planning and implementing personal goals.
Jonathan Dago, one of the Lead Support Workers said, “Everyone seemed inspired and energised at the end of the session”. The role of the support worker, working one to one in the home and community can be isolating at times, so it is important to bring the teams together not only for continuous professional development, but also importantly to connect and share.
Madi Braim, the East Malvern Hearth Support Services General Manager coordinated the professional development event and also found it to be a valuable way to “check in” with her team.
John Armstrong
John was introduced to Social Role Valorisation in the early 80’s, and went on to train and receive recognition as a Senior SRV Trainer with Dr Wolfensberger and the Training Institute in Syracuse NY.
Since 1991 John has worked as a self-employed consultant across Australia and New Zealand conducting training, consultancy and evaluation. John is accredited by both the North American Council for SRV and the Australia and New Zealand SRV Group (ANZSG).
John focuses on uplifting individuals or groups who are at risk of devaluation or have already been devalued. He works to valorise their social situations at every level of society. In short, John discusses devaluation in the context of disability, resulting from systemic dysfunction.
Ideally, an integrated system of financial, emotional, physical and social support will facilitate a Participant’s needs. However, acquiring these resources is not always possible, or realistic (i.e. financial) and John highlights the opportunities in revising current networks of support. For instance, it is important personal values are employed and not imposed upon Participants.
For more information about Johns approach to crafting a valued role and get “the good things in life” please click on the link below.
To read more about John’s thoughts on “The Application of Social Role Valorization in Supporting People with an Intellectual Disability” please visit; https://socialrolevalorization.com/resources/articles/
Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger
In the early 1980s “Dr. Wolfensberger came up with a new idea Social Role Valorisation, or SRV. SRV was defined as “the enablement, establishment, enhancement, maintenance, and/or defence of valued social roles for people–particularly for people at value-risk–by using, as much as possible, culturally valued means.”
The importance of culturally valued means maintained the connection to normalization, and social roles were posited to be the key determinant of whether people would likely be accorded the good things or the bad things of life.
In other words, people who hold valued social roles, and are seen by others to hold valued roles, are more likely to enjoy normative settings, activities, and routines, to be respected by others, to have positive relationships with others, etc.–all good things of life. But people who are seen to hold social roles that are devalued are more likely to get settings, activities, and so forth that valued people in society would not want, to be kept apart rather than welcomed into societal participation, to be subjected to non-normalizing conditions altogether.
Thus, the key to procuring normative and even valued conditions of life for people is to try to procure for them valued social roles, and to help them to carry out such roles.
The two main avenues for achieving and maintaining positively valued social roles are personal competency enhancement, because many valued roles require certain competencies; and positive social image, because imagery both shapes and reflects a person’s social roles, and conveys to observers what social roles a perceived party holds.” (Source; https://wolfwolfensberger.com/life-s-work/social-role-valorisation )
Dr. Wolfersberger wrote a 100+ page monograph on SRV that came out in three editions over a decade, entitled A Brief Introduction to Social Role Valorisation as A High-Order Concept for Structuring Human Services, with a fourth edition published after his death.
To read more about Dr Wolfensberger and SRV please visit; https://wolfwolfensberger.com/life-s-work/social-role-valorisation
