Guy Caruso gave a plenary presentation this morning (based on a paper written by Guy and Joe Osburn, and edited by the late Wolf Wolfensberger) in which he analyzed the concept and practice of ‘best practice’ in human services, and its roots in and connection to Social Role Valorization. This link is often ignored, denied or unknown, which can lead to several problems, such as the danger of losing one’s bearings when a good practice is disconnected from ideology, its context and sources, related practices, etc. We see this in so many of the common fads and perversions prevalent in human services today.
Guy also made the point that a so-called best practice may be labelled as such ‘without confirmation or demonstration,’ and thus emphasized the essential link between SRV and PASSING, i.e., the necessity of a rigorous practice of, and a critical tool for, assessment.
Guy is a long-term student and later associate of Wolfensberger; and a member of the North American SRV Development, Training and Safeguarding Council.
