Wolf Wolfensberger

Who is Wolf Wolfensberger?

Wolf Wolfensberger was a German-American academic who influenced disability policy and practice in the United States and elsewhere through his development of Social Role Valorisation. SRV extended the work of Bengt Nirje in Europe on Normalisation. He later extended his approach in a radical anti-deathmaking direction.

Born in Mannheim, Germany in 1934, Dr. Wolfensberger was sent to the countryside for two years during World War II, in order to escape the bombing. He emigrated to the USA in 1950 at 16 years of age. He studied Philosophy at Siena College in Memphis, Tennessee, received a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology at St. Louis University, and a PhD in Psychology from Peabody College for Teachers where he specialized in mental retardation and special education.

Wolfensberger worked at Muscatatuck State School and interned at the E.R. Johnstone Training Center. He did a one year National Institute of Health research fellowship at Maudsley Hospital, studying with Dr. Jack Tizard and Dr. Neil O'Connor. Wolfensberger was the Director of Research at Plymouth State Home and Training School. He was a mental retardation research scientist at the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute of the University of Nebraska Medical School in Omaha from 1964 to 1971.