Supported Employment and Social Validity

Abstract

Whereas considerable data exist demonstrating positive outcomes for people working as a result of supported employment, little attention has been paid to more qualitative measures of consumer satisfaction. Given the vast array of potential consumers of supported employment services, it seems imperative to determine consumer acceptability, or the social validity, of supported employment goals, procedures, and outcomes. The purpose of the present paper was to review a portion of the supported employment/social validity literature in relation to a proposed Social Validity Matrix and to suggest areas for future research. A review of 30 studies based on the matrix indicated future research is needed to (a) broaden the scope of supported employment social validity assessment, (b) investigate alternative strategies for assessing social validity, (c) develop systematic procedures for collecting and using social validity data, and (d) establish functional variables within supported employment.