Normalisation — Metatheory or metaphysics? A conceptual critique

Abstract

Normalisation is recognised to be an influential human service paradigm. Its best known proponent, Wolfenberger, maintains that it is both a self-evidently valid human service ideology and also a “research-anchored” scientific theory (Wolfensberger, 1980). Critics have cast doubts upon both of these claims. The scientific status of normalisation has yet to be clarified. A critical analysis of Wolfenberger's formulation reveals that the core statement of the model is tautologous, and thus cannot be considered a scientific statement. The empirical status of two major auxiliary hypotheses of normalisation is briefly addressed and found to be equivocal.