Concurrent Session:
The Psychopostcard Collection of Wolf Wolfensberger: Exploring its Relevance to an SRV Understanding of Imagery, Roles and Societal Values

Dr. Wolfensberger collected postcards related to human services, disability, various types of institutions and postcards of societally devalued people. He called them psychopostcards, and used some of the images to illustrate specific points made in various workshops, including SRV.  A set of notes he left behind clearly indicates that he had intended to do a thorough analysis of his collection.  Among the thousands of different postcards, there were a significant number of images of institutions, human services, and people subject to social devaluation, for a variety for reasons, such as disability, illness, or on racial, ethnic, economic, or moral grounds, and so forth. The postcards project a variety of social images of the people depicted and some portray their subjects in various roles. Travelers, and locals wrote messages on the postcards, sending them to friends, or family, all over North America, and beyond. This presentation will employ a small selection of Wolfensberger’s postcards to explore their relevance to the study of imagery and perceived roles, and the potential part played by postcards in the influencing of social values at a societal level. Some of the postcards reflect the wounding social devaluation inflicts on people.