Alternatives to Violence Project

Started twenty years ago in New York at the request of prisoners, this
project is taking off round Australia. With the exception of South Australia
and Northern Territory, all states now have Alternatives to Violence Project
(AVP) established, and growing as fast as facilitators can be trained.

I first heard about AVP at an international Quaker conference in Tokyo about
seven years ago. One of the founders was there explaining the work, and its
success in the community and in prisons. I liked the sound of it, but had to
put it on hold for the time being, with an intention to get involved one day.
Now is the right time.

AVP began when inmates of Green Haven Prison in New York requested that
Quakers come into prison to demonstrate nonviolence. They'd seen Quakers in
action during the civil rights actions and in the Vietnam Moratorium
movement,  liking the way that assertiveness and respect were encouraged. A
few Quakers went to ask the prisoners what they wanted, and AVP has been
evolving ever since. It is not only a Quaker programme - anyone who shares
the desire to promote alternatives to violence is welcome to join the
project.

There are some clear guidelines in excellent handbooks, but each AVP group
finds its own flavour and strengths. As far as I can make out (and I'm still
pretty new to it), some common features make AVP special.

One is the strong belief, far beyond an intellectual of the goodness in every
person. No one is beyond hope.  Every one is valuable. Especially in the
prison setting,  where participants know they've been roundly rejected by
society (even though many of them shouldn't be there, and rather we embarked
on the concept of restorative rather than the punitive model) that knowledge
of goodness in everyone is fundamentally important.

Secondly, there is the understanding that we are all capable of violence.
More than that, that we all do violence - in one or other of its many forms,
probably throughout our lives. Knowing this in your gut, as well as in your
heart, and in your head, is a great equaliser. It gives a common feeling that
everyone is able to learn from and with each other. In fact, everyone is a
teacher, and everyone is a learner.

Thirdly, it is completely voluntary. Even within the prison - no one can made
to sign up. It cannot be used as a parole requirement. All the facilitators
give their time. All the organisers give their time. So the authorities have
no hold over the group. AVP is not beholden to anyone. Again, in the prison
context, it is important to be independent of the system.

Basic to AVP is that it is experiential. It is not a talkfest. It is not
traditional teaching. It is the doing of many exercises, carefully crafted to
encourage affirmation, trust, community building, communication, co-operation
and nonviolent conflict resolution. There are some guidelines towards group
harmony, like not using put-downs, only volunteering yourself, listening to
others, and the right to pass.

Another feature is the emphasis on teamwork. There are always at least three
facilitators, who spend a whole day together planning a twenty two hour
workshop. They share skills, thus expanding their individual horizons, and
ensure that there aren't old hang-ups between them, which might prevent them
working together effectively. And then more time debriefing. So, it's a big
commitment, not only in time, but in being honest within the teams.

Holding it all together is something magical called transforming power,
available to us all. Quakers might call this the inward light. A much used
mandala revolves around respect for self, caring for others, thinking before
reacting, expecting the best, and seeking a nonviolent path.  While there is
no god-talk at all, there is a spiritual dimension, with the creation of a
safe space, and with respect paid to our beginnings and our place in the big
picture of the universe.

When AVP/WA conducted its first prison workshop in (male,  maximum security)
Casuarina recently, we were privileged to work with Steven Angell, one of the
New York founders, and Elaine Dyer, a gifted Aotearoan facilitator.

Even before our experienced visitors arrived, some magic happened. Three of
us locals, who had done the sixty six hours in three workshops last year,
went to the prison to introduce the programme to those inmates who'd signed
up after seeing our posters and brochures. We were told that eighteen
prisoners had expressed interest. A good number.

However, when we settled down to talk with them, only half that number had
shown up. The superintendent told us that the others refused to come out of
their unit, and we'd have to go and meet with them separately. Fine. We
proceeded and quickly discovered that prison culture precluded the
mainstreamers from mixing with the protection lot. Given half a chance, the
mainstreamers explained exactly why. We told them we'd hoped to be able to
have all work together.  And we listened for a long time, while they thrashed
the idea around. Eventually, one of the men said "Hey, these people have come
in here, prepared to deal with us, and with that other lot, without judging
us, or them. If they can do it, we ought to give it a try!" Breakthrough. For
some it was rather a reluctant agreement.

Out of there we went, with some trepidation, to meet with the "despised
others", at the bottom of the pecking order.  They said there was no way they
would sit down with those mainstreamers - they would be torn apart. Their
fears were real - a protection prisoner was murdered in Casuarina last year!
We reported that the mainstreamers were willing to give it a go. Having
expressed amazement and checking that they wouldn't be out numbered, the
protection prisoners consented to join a single group. Again, it was
leadership from one of the guys, throwing out the challenge to break down a
barrier within the prison hierarchy, which resulted in consensus.

Both groups were told that this was not a therapy group,  that time was
shared by all, and that respect and confidentiality would be high priorities.

Well,the workshop worked wonderfully, after some initial awkwardness, which
lasted a very short time. I quickly forgot who was from which group. Perhaps
it was just as well that I hadn't realized how ground-breaking it was, to
have those two groups co-operating, and enjoying themselves together, and
making real friendships across the great divide.

It was an exhausting and exhilarating three days. From those fifteen men, (a
few had decided not to participate) as well as from the other facilitators, I
learned so much. It was a very enriching time, with wonderful stories being
shared, as well as the pain of separation, aloneness in the world, early
abuse - all that you might expect and then more! It was fantastic to see the
relishing of fun, the laughter, and yes, even singing! There were no warders
present, but they could hear us, and kept wondering what on earth was going
on in there! All we were doing was providing opportunities for growth in a
safe space.

The administration was very supportive and co-operative, and have given us
excellent feedback, because of letters they've had from some inmates and
because of some behaviour changes they've seen. They want us to do more.
Cynics will say,  well, of course, it's a free service, and when the
so-called Justice Dept. is cutting back all over the place, we're just
filling some gaps, and making life easier for admin. While that may be partly
true, I'm sure that AVP offered something extremely useful to this bunch of
people, who responded very positively to being treated with respect. The sort
of comments we got from them were: no one has ever listened to me before;
I've learned to respect myself a little bit;  maybe I'm not so totally
useless; I think I'll try to sort things out with my father; I've made some
friends here; I want to help other people make the most of this place; this
must be a bit what family is like.

We've been back for follow-ups - chances for the whole group to be together
again, and to re-affirm some of the important learning which happened. We're
offering another stage one workshop soon, followed by stages two and three
before the end of the year, by which time there will be a bunch of inmates
able to co-facilitate with us, and/or to run workshops on their own. That is
indeed empowering stuff for people who generally regard themselves as being
on the bottom of society's scrapheap.

During our initial workshops in Perth last year, some seasoned workshoppers
found the AVP pace a little slow, or not mindful enough of their previous
experience. While these comments are valid, it's a good idea to see the first
community workshop as modelling what happens in a stage one prison workshop.
That's how it all made sense to me. So,  although many of the exercises were
familiar, I found them still worthwhile with different people, in a new
framework - there's always more to learn.

There has also been some criticism that, perhaps a little like Mother Theresa
ministering to the poverty stricken in Bombay, AVP doesn't address the unjust
structures of society adequately, or at all.

It certainly is about nonviolence at the individual level.  I see it working
on humans whose lives are enriched by the process of feeling valued instead
of abused. Like the pebble dropped into a pool of water, I believe this
project has beneficial societal consequences in ever-increasing circles. It
would be good to extend further into the community, where we need lots of
workshops to train facilitators to keep up with the prison demand, and where
the experience of doing the workshops is intrinsically valuable. It would be
a great help to stressed kids to get it going in schools, as is happening in
some parts of the United States. I see AVP as a gift to be shared.

We are called to do different things at various stages in our lives. So,
while we urgently need activists doing bold and brave civil disobedience and
in other ways publicly challenging everything about the status quo, I feel
called to engage in this person-to-person work, which is highly satisfying.
Tangible results make a welcome change! Although I also know it to be true
that we are called to be faithful rather than successful.

AVP doesn't consume all of my life. Earlier concerns still find their place.
I'm very excited to be part of the resurgence of the peace movement in W.A.,
with the opening of our Peace House, and our first peace conference in years
is imminent. Great stuff! Finding a balance between various concerns and
family life and fun and a spiritual dimension is as tricky as it ever was -
now does that sound familiar?
Jo Vallentine

For more information contact: AVPWA, 35 Clifton Cres, Mount Lawley, WA 6050,
phone 272 1268 or 272 4252.