For over forty years Wolf Wolfensberger has been a significant figure in the world of human services, especially in the field of learning disability. His work on normalization and Citizen Advocacy in the late 1960's and early 1970's has been in a number of countries, most notably the USA, his adopted country, as well as Canada, Australasia, and the UK. His further work in developing the theory Social Role Valorization, the successor to normalisation, and as commentator on broader trends in society and their effects on vulnerable people and services for them has ensured his place as a major voice for values and the human worth of all people. Never afraid of controversy, his views have brought him into conflict with institutional vested interests and radical groups alike.
In Leadership and Change in Human Services David Race introduces the reader to Wolfensberger's key ideas through a series of extracts, with commentary, from his published work. Throughout the edited selection, the emphasis is on placing Wolfensberger's work in contemporary context and examining its continuing relevance today. Including a comprehensive bibliography of Wolfensberger's written output, this Reader offers an invaluable source of reference to all those concerned with the recent history of the human services.