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 1960s and early 1970s has been acknowledged by supporters and critics alike to have been fundamental to developments in a number of countries, most notably his adopted country, and the USA, Canada, Australasia, and the UK. His further work in developing the theory of social role valorization, the successor to normalisation, and as a 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 Wolfensburger's work in contemporary context and examining its continuing relevance today. Including a comprehensive bibliography of Wolfensburger's written output, this text offers an invaluable source of reference to all those concerned with the recent history of the human services.