This is the second issue of the SRV UK Newsletter. Again it is the mixture of news, articles and information, which is broadly related to Social Role Valorization. In order to cover our costs we are asking for subscriptions from now on. For £10.00 you will receive four newsletters. They will probably be out every six months, but it also may be possible to increase to four issues per year. The first two you have now had have been free of charge.
The articles in this issue cover a range of topics, from the incidence of scabies to the implications of Social Role Valorisation theory for mental health practice.

Some additional areas the Newsletter will be hoping to support include:

1. the promotion of a critical debate about Social Role Valorisation, Normalisation and related theories

2. To critically examine De-institutionalisation and Inclusion Practice.

3. To disseminate information about good practice across the UK. This to include:

Address for Correspondence:
Dr Tony Wainwright
Twelve Acres, Trewetha, Port Isaac, Cornwall, PL29 3RU.
Email: tony_wainwright@compuserve.com

Address for UK SRV study group
Mr Rob Henstock
112 Stamford Street, Stalybridge, Cheshire,
SK15 1LU ( 0161 303 7283
Email: TACLUK@aol.com

CONTENTS:

1.     Best Practices in Mental Health Community Supports and Social Role Valorization Theory
2.     Scabies and Community Care Peter Janitsch
3.     A picture is worth a thousand words Rob Henstock
4.     Social Psychology and SRV Tony Wainwright
5.     Guidelines of what are essential points for coverage in short presentations of Social Role Valorization
6.     Reports from SRV UK study group
7.     Contact address for groups:

8.     Addendum
9.     Other reading
10.    Training events
11.    Letters
12.    Resources
13.    Publications received
14.    Web sites of interest
15.    Subscriptions and Data Protection Act

Best Practices in Mental Health Community Supports and Social Role Valorization Theory
By Michael Kendrick
4 Bullard Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040 USA
(413) 533-3511/FAX (413) 533-8071
Email: mk@soc.umass.edu

The theory of social role valorization is not particularly well known in the mental health field, yet a close reading of its key propositions reveals considerable concordance with what most practitioners in the field would consider optimal or best practices. What follows is a brief illustration of the overlap between best practices and social role valorization (SRV) theory

1. The Acquisition of Valued Social Roles and Status

This goal is central to the definition of SRV, yet there would be few practitioners who would not espouse the value to their clients of obtaining valued social roles in their community. Most professionals are all too aware of the loss of valued social roles that can come with the onset of various disorders and properly place emphasis on their preservation and enhancement. Even where professionals are pessimistic of success with this goal they-typically maintain it as legitimate nonetheless

2. Treating People as People

It is commonly noted that the humanity of people with mental disorders is overlooked. This is why the ethic (and practice) of systematically seeing and treating people as being people essentially like everyone else is so crucial. In social role valorization theory, the preferred method for doing this is by insisting that people be treated as other valued citizens of the society are, i.e.,. use of culturally valued analogues.

3. Practical Supports To Enable Normal Living Even In The Face of Significant Functional Impairment.

While it is indeed true that many functional impairments could lead to a loss of the advantages of being able to continue a typical life, it has always been considered both feasible and desirable to both pursue normal living as an accessible goal and to undertake to provide the practical supports necessary to accomplish this. Many of these supports needn't-be formalized services, though many people today can no longer grasp the reality of-nonprofessionalized community supports.

4. Countering Social Devaluation and Stigma

Even the most indifferent of people can recognize that people with mental disorders are socially devalued and scarred by prejudicial stereotypes. Social role valorization theory, professional practice, and virtually all self„help and advocacy groups point out both the need and feasibility of challenging social devaluation, prejudicial attitudes, and the mistreatment-which comes with them.

5. The Enhancement of Autonomy and Empowerment

The reality of the powerlessness experienced by persons with mental disorders, in regards to both society and human services, requires a firm resolve to undertake practice which authentically empower the person and support their autonomous functioning as common with all citizens. While in reality such aspirations are rarely followed through-systematically, it does not take away from their legitimacy as key elements of treating people-as people.

6. Preservation and Enhancement of Community Belonging and Social Integration

It is all too obvious that people with mental disorders are at risk of being rejected and excluded from most elements of society, e.g., relationships, school, work, family, etc. This is why so much of good practice has recognised the value of not letting crucial ties to-community be broken and the creating of such ties where they are missing. This principle-has been central to both SRV theory and best practices.

7. Utilisation of Generic Resources

A key element of getting ones needs met without resorting to a segregated life apart from community is to utilise the common (generic) resources used by all citizens without notice or discrimination. These can be as varied as medical care, leisure, schooling, transport, housing, community clubs, etc. When people are denied these, they are left with-no choice but to eke out an existence on the fringes of society „ typically entrapped in the-permanent mental health client role.

8. Preservation and Enrichment of Natural Supports

It may surprise many to consider the possibility that the "real" mental health systems one of "natural" informal supports offered by friends, family, and even casual acquaintances. Yet for the majority of people living with mental disorders it is these that-make much of their life more functional and satisfying. This is why the support and-mobilisation of such a resource is so continually heralded as a vital element of good practice.-In many cases, such supports may be much more dependable and decisive than those of the-formal/professional system.

9. The Appropriate Individualisation of Support and Service(s)

Most socially devalued groups will encounter some form of gross and negative generalizations as to what all such persons are supposed to be like. In this the unique identity-of each person is clouded by the overall depiction and (negative) treatment of the group. This-is why the unique personality and personhood of every person needs to be safeguarded. Most-high quality practices not only respect individual differences but "grow" supports out of the-unique identity of each person.

10. The Protection and Advancement of Human Rights and Dignity

The history of the mental health field has been full of examples of the degradation-of the human dignity and rights of its clients. This consciousness has often led to quite-meritorious attempts to "set things right" by fully recognizing the rights of persons even-when the broader culture continues to devalue. Not all aspects of human dignity are-enshrined as rights, so it is necessary to respect people in the fullness as people irrespective of the tendency to do otherwise.

These principles and propositions which are key elements of social role valorization-theory are clearly not always honored in practice yet few would disagree that when they are-pursued they constitute some of the best practices of the mental health and allied fields.

By Peter Janitsch, Nurse Tutor, University of Plymouth.

Watch this space !.

I have been preparing an article for publication describing events that took place recently in a city in England. Unfortunately I am unable to share the whole of it at present for reasons of copyright. However if and when it is published, I will inform readers of its whereabouts. This is a brief synopsis:

A small number of people attending day services were found to be infested with a fairly common parasite scabies.

Scabies mite and eggs

As a result almost every person identified as having learning disabilities in the city was treated with anti parasitic chemicals, whether they showed any sign of infestation or not.
The article sets out to analyse the potential meanings of this programme of mass treatment from the point of view of unconsciousness driving negative service dynamics when dealing with devalued groups of people. Particular reference is made to existing (usually unconscious) negative stereotypes society holds about people with learning disabilities, and how this programme served to reinforce several of the most toxic ones. It also seeks to demonstrate how services that often include SRV as part of their mission statements can become part of an institutional type of response to people who are supposed to be living an integrated life in the community. The degree of compliance to the programme is also explored, as are comparison with responses to this type of occurrence that would be made in organisations in the valued world and among valued people.
Finally there are some suggestions as to how to avoid this type of response in the future.

A picture is worth a thousand words

By Rob Henstock
(taken from notes taken by TW at the meeting at Hatt)
This article is based on a presentation at the SRV meeting held in Hatt in Cornwall in April this year. I decided I would look at the use of slides in SRV presentations and the development of slide sets.
The slides started with the CMHERA pack, but now these are rather outdated, so over the years I have added to the CMHERA pack. The first set is an extension of this pack to show such things as imagery issues. The second set shows the changes in a single service over five years.
Slide set 1. These are used for the wounds, five accomplishments, and other contexts. They are a flexible set that can be used for a variety of presentations. One question I posed was: Should this set be developed so it has a consistency and be used as a single slide set to be used all over the UK, or should we each develop our own local sets ?
It also helps me when using slides, as it means the audience is paying attention to the images rather than the presenter.
Use of pictures of buildings can illustrate that people live in places that look like work settings, and people go to day centres in places that look like a home. A topsy-turvy service world !
It also can illustrate the modern forms of association of different services, for example so-called ‘esmi’ units (an abbreviation meaning elderly people with severe mental impairment) with child development units.

I also use newspaper stories indicating the way devalued people are identified as dangerous.

Linking together pictures of the way older people are treated, aborted foetus’ described as ‘human garbage’, with pictures of mentally ill people in Greece being hosed down can illustrate something of the social process of devaluation in the way it impacts on different groups.

The use of new slides is important as it shows a commitment to looking at what is now going on, but these images may not be that different from those from many years ago.

Images of adults making things which are associated with children, or being provided with products that are large versions of children’s things can have an impact much greateer than words.

Images of the new therapies (crazes) are useful to illustrate the way these come and go, and the hype associated with them. Snoozlum rooms provide a rich source of debate !

Associations between people and funeral parlours, cemeteries and so on are very common, and illustrating these and showing why this is important can add an important ingredient.

Similarly the amount of press coverage of euthanasia can illustrate who ‘euthanasia’ applies to.

The use of images from around the world can show how themes are universal (e.g. Ruanda).

The use of cartoons can be very powerful, but you need to be careful that people get the joke. Cartoons can date very quickly !

The issue of how the old are being viewed (burden on taxpayers etc.) can be very useful to illustrate the context in which discussions of services for older people, or euthanasia are being made.
Images of animals being treated like humans, or humans like animals can be illustrated by programmes like Animal Hospital. To get good treatment for animals you have to humanise them. To get abuse people you dehumanise people - maybe view them as animals.

Pictures about the treatment of the Jews , if explained in terms of the links to devaluation are a rich source of imagery.

Images of people who are severely disabled, yet are valued are also very powerful, as it illustrates the possible ways people can live positive lives, with even very severe difficulties.

How to do things well can also be illustrated with a slide - you don’t need a job coach necessarily to help someone do a job, their workmate or employer usually have good ways to teach the job to anyone.

Images of the new market system can illustrate something of the way in which people have become commodities for trade.

Pictures of poverty, sleeping rough, begging, to illustrate that it is not just people who receive services that are affected by devaluation.

The use of cross language images is complex. I show a kindergarten called Baby Dump in Germany and this raises some of these issues, and whether the unconscious associations are important even if you don’t consciously know them.

The covers of magazines, voluntary societies in particular, can illustrate both positive and negative images.

Slides can show ordinary scenes to illustrate issues. For example ordinary kids playing together can illustrate the importance of social integration, when one of the kids is disabled, even not obviously so. It can also illustrate developmental growth.

Images showing people succeeding can be positive. Showing what is possible. One image of a racing driver with a headline ‘Take it to the limit’, is very strong. The driver is in a wheelchair.

Finishing up the presentation with a slide set can ram the message home. However with the wounds, I have one overhead transparency for the wounds list, and slides for each issue.

Some slides are particularly problematic, for example abortion and euthanasia, and these should be used to illustrate the issue and the relevant context. It is a fact that abortion does occur and that euthanasia is a contemporary social issue, and the audience can be pointed to other Training Institute workshops and so on to get more information. I explain that the presenter is simply pointing up issues which emerge from an SRV analysis.

The words used, e.g. wounds rather than common experiences is an issue too. The degree to which you communicate emotionally rather than intellectually, is an important issue for selection of slides.

Slide set 2
This is a set which shows a service where I used to work and it illustrates the images and practices associated with respite care units. The first part of the presentation ends with some general pictures of the service as it used to be and the activities that used to go on.The second part follows the lives of five individuals that used to stay there.

Such things as the mixture of ages results in lowest denominator activity. Mixed abilities had other unfortunate effects.

An image of a child on a slide in Covent Garden on holiday illustrates children having a good time, saving money as well. One slide shows a child at the London Transport museum who said when he grows up he wants to be a bus driver. The point is how little people, children included, do not talk about their future. Other stories emerged of how disabilities can become advantages.
Respite became transformed into holidays, family exchanges, day outs and so on. The central purpose of the service was redefined as ‘How can children spend time away from their parents in a natural way as part of growing up and developing?’
This helped lead to rethinking what components of a coherent model might be. It was useful to illustrate this change by showing images of individual children as they change as a result of the service changing.

So in summary, images can be a rapid way of making a point. They do need to be carefully selected, however, as a slide that doesn’t make the point well can be confusing. I addition, they need to be of good quality as it does not help an audience to be peering at a slide which they can’t see clearly, with some small detail that makes your point, but which is invisible on the day.

Social Psychology and SRV

By Tony Wainwright

For some years I have felt that Social Role Valorisation was in some way disconnected from academic psychology, sociology and social anthropology. A paper by Ray Lemay (1994) entitled Problems of discourse concerning roles was one of the first that I have read, apart from those from the Training Institute, that attempted to review Role Theory and examine its implications for practice. His paper was developed at the conference in Ottawa in 1994 on Normalisation and SRV and will be in the conference proceedings, due out this year.
Roles, as he says, are of immense importance both in the social sciences and in our everyday lives, . However, he also points out that because we have many roles which interact with each other in a complex way, when attempting to understand or investigate roles, this complexity almost inevitably becomes reduced into explainable and well-boundaried parts and concepts.
"There may a great deal of overlap between the roles such persons play; for instance, the man who is a social worker at work and a father at home can’t help but have his father role influence his professional practice and vice versa. When one multiplies this by the many roles we play in a lifetime, the overlaps become very hard to control for. Therein lies the necessity, for the purposes of research and science, to create artificial boundaries between roles. For roles to be identified and quantified, it is important to reduce them to symbolic representations. However, these boundaried concepts are certainly less satisfactory than the fuzzy idea itself."

I take from this that when we teach about roles in SRV workshops, we should have some caution about being too simplistic with our claims about how roles function. The experience we have in our everyday life will be coloured by the fact that much of our understanding of our own and other’s roles is out of conscious awareness, and quite automatic. Furthermore, the research base is also faced with the problem of complexity reduction mentioned above. The place of role theory in the social sciences is very large, and I cannot pretend to be any sort of authority. Dipping into the literature therefore is my main way of exploring the field.

One study which I found of interest was by Fred Davis (Davis 1975) in a piece of work entitled Deviance Disavowal: The management of Strained Interaction by the Visibly Handicapped described in a large textbook on Sociology (see reference). In this work I think he has managed to get round some of the problems, highlighted by Lemay, although not entirely. Davis is an ‘Interactionist’, a school of social theory which started with George Herbert Mead. This is also known as ‘Symbolic Interactionism’ and focuses on small scale interactions as the data source for explaining social actions on a wider canvas. It has the advantage of depending on real encounters between people, but the potential disadvantage of being hard to generalise from.

Davis interviewed people with disabilities about what it was like when they interacted with people without disabilities. He wanted to explore the dynamics of these relationships to gain a greater understanding of the so-called ‘threats to sociability’. He found that these could be grouped into three areas: firstly the non-disabled person may become preoccupied by the disability rather than focusing attention on the person. Secondly, excessive displays of emotion, outside normal acceptable limits might be expressed - for instance openly being shocked, disgusted or pitying. This is associated with what Davis calls ‘the contradiction of attributes’ for instance thinking, or even saying such things as ‘how strange that someone so pretty is in a wheelchair’. The final category he identified was the expression of uncertainty about the competence of the disabled person. This might take the form of not knowing if they could invite a visually impaired person to the theatre.

All of these things prevent the easy sociability which is the framework of normal intercourse. The next stage of Davis’ analysis is to find out how the disabled person copes with such threats to social relationships, and it is here that he suggests they attempt to ‘disavow deviance’. Davis develops three stages in what he calls ‘deviance disavowal and normalisation’.

The first stage is called ‘ fictional acceptance’. This is like the way people usually behave when they meet- polite conversation, and no apparent recognition of differences between them. For people with disabilities, however, this stage is marked by a starvation of content. The importance of this stage is that it allows a jumping off ground for subsequent, deeper relationships. To move to the next stage the people that Davis interviewed used a number of strategies to emphasise their normality . They emphasised for example, their involvement in normal, everyday activities, made light of their disability, and tried to reassure others about the situation.
Once the able-bodied person has been persuaded to accept the ‘normal’ status of the disabled person, Davis suggests the scene is set to move to the third stage which he calls the ‘institutionalisation of the normalised relationship’. This can take one of two forms. Firstly the disabled person is fully accepted into the world of the able-bodied person, and the disability is largely forgotten. Problems here arise when the disabled person may need some ‘special’ consideration, and they may have to chart a tricky course between the special and the normal. A second form is where the able-bodied person takes on the role of an honorary disabled person, so to speak. They are accepted as a member of the group and are allowed licence to joke about disability and the like, which again reduces discomfort.

While this study is a small-scale piece of research it reveals something of the perhaps universal striving we have to navigate the difficult waters of relationship-building when a ‘devalued’ characteristic is either visible or at least evident. SRV suggests that the methods used by the respondents in Davis’s study are a part of a much wider scheme whereby societies enact through countless individual interactions the process of social devaluation.

Two themes in SRV theory seem particularly relevant here, that of the importance of interpersonal identification and the power of mind-sets and expectancies. While devaluation is by no means avoidable by individual interpersonal identification ( racist attitudes can persist in the context of friendships between individuals - ‘he’s alright, but he’s different from the others), it can be a powerful countermeasure. Identifying the ‘obstacles to sociability’ as directly experienced by disabled people can help colleagues, relatives, friends, service workers and so on understand how to involve themselves (or not) most effectively in promoting social relationships. As noted in the study, getting past the stage of ‘fictional acceptance’ may demand an assault on the mind sets and preconceptions of the ‘non-disabled’. Understanding this process better may also provide significant leads in enhancing people’s status.

A further series of studies which has been influential in recent years have been conducted by Kitwood. These deal with aspects of the nature of the social psychological milieu that surrounds older people with mental health problems. The term, malignant social psychology was coined by Kitwood and well describes the social psychological environment faced by many who either have one of the conditions termed dementias, or are wrongly labelled/misdiagnosed. He says:
" I have spent a good deal of time looking at what I am calling here the malignant social psychology surrounding the dementing process. My method is a simple one: collecting vignettes from everyday life, either by first-hand observation or from those involved in some way in dementia care. The categories that have emerged so far are as follows:
1. Treachery Some form of trickery or outright deception is used by others in order to get the dementia sufferer to comply with their wishes or plans.
2. Disempowerment Things are done for a dementia sufferer which he or she is actually able to do, albeit clumsily or slowly: there is a consequent deskilling, and loss of the sense of urgency.
3. Infantilisation This is a more extreme form of 2. but also accompanied by subtle messages which imply that the dementia sufferer has the subjectivity of a very young child.
4. Intimidation The dementia sufferer is made afraid by such processes as assessments or head scans, these being carried out in an impersonal way: sometimes intimidation includes threats or actual violence.
5. Labelling A confused elderly person is given a diagnostic label such as ‘primary degenerative dementia’, or ‘Alzheimer’s disease’. Expectations of progressive decline and derangement are set up, and a self-fulfilling prophesy comes into play.
6. Stigmatisation This is an extreme form of labelling, as a result of which the dementia sufferer becomes a diseased object, an alien, an outcast.
7. Outpacing Communication with a dementia sufferer often occurs much more slowly than with those who are functioning ‘normally’. Caregivers and others pay no heed to this, and so fail to establish good contact.
8. Invalidation The experience of the dementia sufferer, especially in relation to the emotions and feelings, is not seriously understood and accepted by others.
9. Banishment The dementia sufferer is removed from the human milieu and left on his or her own, either physically or psychologically: this is rather like being ‘sent to Coventry’.
10. Objectification The person who is dementing gradually ceases to be a person and comes to be treated more like a lump of dead matter: to be pushed around, manipulated, drained, dumped etc."

While this list applies particularly to those with intellectual and emotional problems, it is also faced by those with physical disabilities. In a recent study, people who had been disabled in child or adulthood and are now ageing, found similar patterns of experience. "The main message from the study is that many older disabled people feel that their needs - and even their existence - have been overlooked. Many are anxious about the future and feel that their independence is being threatened by the lack of appropriate and acceptable supportive resources. There are many obstacles to older disabled people being able to articulate their needs - most important of all - have their voices heard. These problems are often particularly acute for older women, and older black and ethnic minority disabled people, many of whom live in extreme isolation."

Kitwood T and Bredin K 1992 Person to Person: A guide to the care of those with failing mental powers. Gale Centre Publications, Loughton, Essex

Lemay R 1994 Problems of discourse concerning roles. Opinions and commentaries. SRV-VRS vol 1 (1) p 41-42
Haralambos M and Holborn M 1995 Sociology. Themes and Perspectives. Fourth Edition. Collins.
Davis F 1975 Deviance Disavowal. In Lindesmith A, Strauss A and Denzin N (eds) Readings in Social Psychology 2nd Ed (Dyden, Hinsdale).

1. The concept of social devaluation, and its reality.

2. That social devaluation is something that happens to another person or group as a result of perceptions of that person or group held by observers. Thus, social devaluation is in the eyes of the beholder, it is therefore relative, and it therefore can be changed.

3. That, in the eyes of observers, a person's or group’s identity and perceived value are largely mediated by the roles the group holds, occupies, and acquires. Thus, one’s social roles are of critical importance in determining whether, one is socially valued or devalued.

4. How a person or a group at risk of social devaluation gets presented to observers, and is then perceived by observers, matters greatly to how observers will value that person or group,

5. That most people most of the time tend to do what is expected of them. These expectations can be conveyed to people through messages given off by their physical environment, by other people in their environment, by the activities that are provided to them, by the language that is associated with them, and by all sorts of other imagery associated with them, and with their settings and social structures.

6. That all people, no matter what their degree of current impairment or level of functioning, can learn change and grow.

7. That people learn from each other, and tend to imitate each other. Thus it is important for people who are socially devalued or at risk of such devaluation to be as much as possible with other people who are socially valued and who have behaviours, characteristics, attitudes, dispositions, etc., which it would be advantageous for the marginalised or at-risk person or group to learn.

8. That messages to and about a person or group are conveyed through the meanings that are attached to the settings, the social structures, the groupings and other people-associations around a person or group. Thus, life settings, social structures and people around the person or group will affect that person’s behaviour; as well, the settings, the social structures, and groupings around a person or group will affect how others perceive that person or group

9. If one wants a devalued person to be able to live in the ordinary world and with ordinary people, then the person must actually live in that world and with such people, in order to learn what is expected and appropriate. In other words, one cannot expect to teach people effectively in artificial .settings and surroundings., but must teach them in the environments in which they are actually expected to perform.

10. In changing a person’s attitude and behaviours towards another person or group, a number of pedagogic strategies have a good chance of working--but exhortatory strategies rarely work. That is, it is rarely effective to merely tell people what they ought to do. Such exhortation must be combined with demonstrating to people what they should do, with reinforcing them positively for doing the right thing, and so on. These pedagogic strategies are known and can be learned, and can be implemented.

11.That it is important for people who are devalued or at risk thereof to be presented and seen in ways that are consistent with their chronological age, and with the behaviours and expectations of people of the same chronological age in the valued society.

12. That other people are less likely to reject devalued or potentially devalued people if they are congregated in large numbers. Moreover the larger a grouping of devalued or potentially devalued people, the more likely it is that others will reject them.

13. It is important that, as much as possible, people who are devalued or at risk thereof, experience positive and adaptive integration into valued society, and that their participation be experience positively by the integrators.

Reports
UK SRV Study Group News

Christine Blincoe outside the Team Room for the SRV meeting

 The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed. The following points were noted for action.

1.Membership. It was agreed that ground rules for membership need to be established. A draft would be written for consideration at the next meeting.

2. There was discussion of the way meetings would be conducted in future. It was agreed they would be held ever 6 months. The next meeting will be 17th and 18th October. Jane Pagler and John Gilkes will be the local co-ordinators and it will be held in Cardiff. The topic will be the 10 Themes. In addition, David will give feed back from the New Zealand trip.

3. Newsletter distributors: These are Rob, David, Jane, Christine, Alan , Bryan and Pete R.

4. Australia feedback: Rob reported on meetings with Peter Millier and others. Peter Millier will be in Europe in September 1998. It was agreed in principle that we would host workshops with Peter leading. Rob will explore possibilities with Peter. Rob’s welcome in Australia was very warm and he recommends others to go over.

5.Training exchanges: At the next meeting there will be discussion of different ways of exchanging training information. Video, audio tape and other methods to be discussed. Alan Rudman may do a video, and Paul J and Peter J may also consider it.

6.Finance: Jane Pagler is treasurer. It was agreed everyone who could would make a contribution at each meeting towards expenses of others.

  7.Upcoming events:
12th to 14th May Cardiff 3 day reflective workshop contact Jane Pagler

4th June Values into Practice Contact David Race
25th to 27th June 3 day SRV Contact Peter Janitsch, Grahame Thomas co-ordinating

16-18 July 3 day SRV Contact Alan Rudman
22-24 July 3 day SRV Contact Liz Midgeley 0191 553 7081

 8.SRV monograph deferred to next meeting Rob

9.Wolf Wolfensberger’s future visits. Agreed it would be best to have one local co-ordinator.

Any readers wishing to attend or for more information please contact the group convenor
Mr Rob Hensock
112 Stamford Street, Stalybridge, Cheshire, SK15 1LU ( 0161 303 7283
Email: TACLUK@aol.com
 

ENGLAND
North West group
Contact:
David Race at the School of Social Work Education and Counselling at Stockport College, Wellington Road South, Stockport, SK1 3UQ (tel. 0161 958 3578 or fax. 0161 480 6636).

South West SRV Interest Group
Contact:
Paul Jenkins at
The Gables
Plymton,
Plymouth
Devon

Midlands SRV Interest Group
Contact:
Christine Blincoe, Premier Health, Cherry Orchard House, 35 Hospital Street, Tamworth, B79 7EE

North East SRV Interest Group
Contact:
Rob Henstock
112 Stamford Street, Stalybridge, Cheshire, SK15 1LU ( 0161 303 7283
 

Scotland
Contact:
Peter Richie
SHS, 1a Washington Court, Edinburgh EH11 2HA phone 0131 538 7717 E-mail 100407, 2626 @ compuserve.com
 

WALES
Contact:
Jane Pagler at Opportunity Housing, Trust Ltd, Unit 5 Cleeve House, Llanishen, Cardiff, CF4 5GL
 

 In the last issue on Citizen Advocacy we inadvertantly left off the last bit of the article. This is as follows:

Because people’s hopes and aspirations cover such a wide spectrum, there are many diverse ways in which an advocate may represent their partner.

Examples of support are:

Book Review

CROSSING THE RIVER by David B Schwartz published by Brookline Books (available from Values Incorporated) (596 Rolls Road, Hextable, Kent, BR8 7RD)

Review by David Race
 

This is a book that can be appreciated from a variety of perspectives. For the reader new to learning disabilities it gives an inspiring account of developments in services in the US during the seventies and eighties, revealing some interesting new possibilities and confirming the potential of these still in embryonic form in this country.

For those more experienced in the field, it gives a much more analytic account of reasons for change, and an opportunity to examine cultural differences which might affect services. Finally, for those who would claim to be steeped in normalisation and SRV ideas, it gives an excellent analysis of various interpretations of those ideas and their derivatives. This it does with a full appreciation of the importance of listening to all the different approaches, rather than fostering some sort of rivalry between them.

The two opening chapters (written by Sharon Gretz and AJ Hildebrand) set the tone for the book well, telling the stories around individuals being connected to communities through participation and citizen advocacy projects. Having gained the interest of the reader through these stories of success, Schwartz begins his more analytical work, first explaining his role on the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council in Pennsylvania. He then goes on, in a very readable yet knowledgeable style, to develop his thesis of a 'conceptual revolution'. SRV followers will begin to see many familiar names occurring in these next few chapters, as he examines the changes that took place in Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the US. Wolfensberger and O'Brien figure prominently, but also earlier change makers in US services such as Sarason and Burton Blatt. As noted earlier, the contributions of all these thinkers are woven expertly into a narrative of changing ideas, leading to the best exegesis of Kuhn's 'paradigm shift' that this writer has come across.

This for me is then the excitement of the book, as Schwartz goes on to review the successes of change in learning disability services, and yet conclude that a major shift in thinking is still required. Followers of the US scene will then not be surprised to see the figure of John McKnight appear, as Schwartz goes on to examine the possibilities for real community participation and belonging as developed from, or as an alternative to, service mediated 'integration'. Those who put their faith in radical developments occurring in the UK as a result of 'freeing up the market' for innovative providers of service may initially receive some signs of support here, but very quickly will see the limitations put on true inclusions of people with learning disabilities if it is engineering through a professionalised service system. The chapter on 'what really keeps people with disabilities safe in society' should be mandatory reading for all registration and inspection units.

Schwartz's question at the end 'what are you doing on the wrong side of the river?' is one on which many people who have worked for any length of time in the service system will ponder. Reading his account of the (many) successes of values led services, yet, at the same time, his sober account of the limitations, in both quality and quantity, of those successes could lead many to a depressing conclusion. Personally, I found the book inspirational, in the sense of being able to celebrate those successes, however small, whilst retaining a keen sense of the ultimate value of community. That such inspiration, is then tarnished by examining this country's' fragmented and self-centred communities is a criticism of ourselves not of the book.

S.R.V. V.R.S The International Social Role Valorization Journal
The latest issue I have is Fall 1996. The articles are as follows:
M Kendrick Leadership and quality
W Wolfensberger, S Thomas and G Caruso The good things in life
R Lemay Normalisation and SRV
W Wolfensberger Research and Empiricism
Opinion, Movie, Book and article reviews

Subscripitions $17 per issue, $26 for two issues, $45 for four issues (two years).

The Editor - SRV/VRS
2882 Tresa Court, Gloucester, Ontario, Canada, K1T 2H1

Training Institute Publication Series
TIPS was begun in 1981 and comes out in six issues a year. It contains articles, news, insights, reviews and viewpoints that relate to the interests and mission of the Training Institute. At the present this mission has to do with reading ‘the signs of the times’, and interpreting their meaning for human services. The current issue is largely devoted to themes they traditionally cover at Christmas - poverty , mostly as it relates to oppression; the prison, crime and punishment scene, religion in society and its interface with human service; issues of war and peace; philanthropy plus a variety of miscellaneous issues.To subscribe send $30 (full) $19 (student) $35 (agency) to:

SPEAK OUT

This is produced by Paul Williams from the address below, and is concerned with similar matters to TIPS, but with a local slant. The current issue is entitled ‘The Positive Issue’ and has some articles about good things which are happening. Paul tells us to make the most of it as there is plenty of bad news for the future issues. Contributions of news, facts, cuttings, articles or views are welcome and should be sent to Paul Williams, CMHERA at 2 Eastbourne Road, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 7HN.
 

In the U.K.
T.A. C. L. The agency for community living in association with Sunderland Social Services and Northumberland Social Services

PASS 3 Introductory Workshop, Sunday 28th September 1997 to Friday 3 October 1997. Collingwood College, Durham University. Presented by Kristjana Kristiansen. The workshop will be of particular interest to senior managers, commissioners, contracts managers and others involved in the evaluation of quality of human services. Further information can be obtained form Rob Henstock, 0161 303 9040 / 0161 456 6502 or at Email:TACLUK@aol.com
This is a rare opportunity to attend this workshop and places are strictly limited. The workshop venue is fully accessible.
Workshop fees are £650 per person (includes tuition, training materials, and accommodation). If you book three places you get £100 discount !

PASS workshop is being planned and will start September 28th to 1st October and be held in Durham. Contact Rob Henstock for details.

Social Role Valorisation Workshops
Centre for Learning Disability Studies 1997 Schedule

Introduction to Social Role Valorisation
Wednesday 10 to Friday 12 September

Introduction to Social Role Valorisation
Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 November
All courses will be held at Stockport College.
Accommodation and fees for three day workshop £150.00. Prices include lunches and refreshments. Workshops are non-residential but information about Hotels and Guest Houses can be sent.
For more information contact:
The Secretary
Centre for Learning Disability Studies,
School of Social Work, Education and Counselling,
Stockport College of Further and Higher Education, Wellington Road South, Stockport,
SK1 3UQ, 0161 958 3484

In AUSTRALIA

Dear Tony,
Thank you for sending the details of the UK SRV Newsletter. I have put details of the newsletter in the enclosed Current Awareness Service under ‘What’s New - Periodicals’. I would be grateful if you could put something in the Newsletter about CAS. Could you use something off our flier (see attached) and add our address(BILD, Wolverhampton Road, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY10 3PP. 01562 850251). Email: bild@bild.demon.co.uk

Best wishes,

Linda Averill
Information and Resources Manager
Ed: The Current Awareness Service costs £28.00 individual rate and £39.00 for an organisation and is for 12 issues. This keeps you up to date with new developments in the field of learning disabilities, information about books and training resources available, and details about journal articles of interest from over 300 journals. Good value if you ask me !

Neil Sinclair
Oxleas NHS Trust
183 Lodge Hill
Goldie Leigh
Abbey Wood
London SE2 0AY

Paul Jenkins has been developing a library of SRV and related articles. He has an annotated bibilography which covers the majority of Wolf Wolfensberger’s work, and also articles critical of SRV. He can be contacted on either 01503 265431 or 01752 337635.
 

I received a letter and publications from Marian Crowe, Royal Ottawa Healthcare Group, Royal Ottawa Hospital, 1145 Carling, Ottawa, Ontario, K1Z 7K4 ( (613)722 6521
FAX: (613)722 4577.:
The articles concern a particular advocacy programme in a mental health service in which Marian took a major leadership role in both the inception and the development. I hope to have a summary of her work in a future Newsletter. She writes:
I have written two articles, the first a description of how the programme works and the second a report of the impact of participation. A rather longer version of the first article was reviewed in Psychiatric Services (formerly Hospital and Community Psychiatry) and was summarised in their brief report column in November 1996 as "Innovative idea: Patients as Speakers". The revised version [which she sent to me: ed] was sent to another journal , which on examination also does not take long articles. The second article, the impact study, is currently being reviewed by Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal.

Marian would is keen to discuss her experience with others in similar programmes, and would ‘of course be enthusiastic about travelling and speaking about the programme.’
So please contact her for further information.
 

Centre for Social Policy Research and Development, Unversity of Wales, Bangor.
Newsletter Winter 1997 edition
Articles include:
Some responses to Care in Chaos
Conspiracies of Silence
Changes to care management in Norther Ireland
Fixing care: a personal account and others . All readable and useful.
Newsletter Summer 1997 edition
Changing times
Everyday lives, everyday fieldwork
People with learning disabilities in their communities: Observations on the IMBY response
Assessment and practice after the community care reforms
All Wales assessment and care management study
Tooling up for carer assessment
The Bangladeshi study of older adults
Win babies, a todler and a person with chronic fatigue.

Contact: The Editors, CSPRD, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DG U
01248 382598. Email: csprd@bangor.ac.uk
 

Advocacy Partners http://homepages.enterprise.net/horner/ap.html

This web page is for the Citizen Advocacy Alliance, a charity with 14 years experience providing advocacy services in London and Surrey. They say they offer both Citizen Advocacy and Crisis Advocacy. They publish a newsletter which can be found as a link to the above page.
 

EDITED BY TONY WAINWRIGHT
TWELVE ACRES, TREWETHA, PORT ISAAC, CORNWALL, PL29 3RU. Email: Tony_Wainwright@compuserve.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS £10 two per year ( issues in Summer and Winter)
Cheques payable to UK SRV please

Your subscription to UK SRV will be greatly valued, and I hope you will subscribe. Please send your £10.00 to UK SRV with the tear off slip below. Many thanks.

 I would like to open a subscription to UK SRV newsletter and I enclose a cheque for £10 ( payable to UK SRV study group please )

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EDITED BY TONY WAINWRIGHT
TWELVE ACRES, TREWETHA, PORT ISAAC, CORNWALL, PL31 2QT. Email: Tony_wainwright@compuserve.com

If this was mailed to you directly your name and address will be on a mailing list for the SRV Newsletter. In order to be exempt from the requirement to register under the Data Protection Act (which is expensive) you can object to your details being on the mailing list. The list only contains details that are necessary for distributing the newsletter.The mailing list will only be used for the purposes of sending out the Newsletter and other related mailings like flyers for workshops. Please fill in the form below and return to my address if you wish your name to be removed from the mailing list. If you wish your name to be added to the list please also fill in the form and return it. Thank you.

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