WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVES TO VIOLENCE PROJECT?

We live in a violent society....and violence comes in many forms. Many are shocked by the increasing conflict on the streets, in our schools and in the home. Violence knows no class, racial, economic or geographical boundaries. People in the US have twice the chance of being murdered than in many other Western countries. Our schools have resorted to metal detectors. Violence in the home, physical and mental, directed against both spouse and child is rampant. We lead the world in prison population, and our prisons, rather than protecting society from violence, spawn more violence. Over ninety percent of prisoners eventually return to society-- from a prison experience that encourages violence.

AVP IN PRISONS

AVP focuses much of its efforts toward one of the most violent prone groups in our society, prison inmates. AVP began 30 years ago when a group of prisoners at Greenhaven Prison in New York were asked to help develop a program to address the attitudes and violence of at-risk youth. Asking a local Quaker group to assist, AVP was developed. The program was tested on other inmates in the prison and was so successful it quickly spread to other New York prisons. Then it spread to other states and later to other countries. AVP is now in most states and in many countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, Ireland, Russia, India, United Kingdom, Macedonia and many others.

Key Benefits In Prisons:

• Reduction in...           more info...
  • Recidivism Rate
  
  
  • "Back to Prison" Recidivism Rate
  
  
  • Write-Ups and Prison Violence
  
  
• Increased Skills in Relating to Others & Prison Violence Situations


• Inmates toward Inmates


• Inmates toward Officers


• Officers toward Inmates (Yes, Correctional Officers take workshops to hone skills at defusing and avoiding violence!)


• Increased Voluntary Positive Contribution Upon Re-introduction to Society


• Increased Ability to Cooperate in Families & in Jobs


• For Some, Skills at Facilitating and Teaching Others in the Community. Many Inmates Not Only Succeed at Remaining Viable and Unincarcerated, but Also Dedicate Their Lives to Helping Others to Not End Up in Situations such as Prison, as well as Teaching People in the Community Ways of Relating Better.
  
  

AVP IN THE COMMUNITY

Outside prison, in our daily lives, we face interpersonal conflict and non-physical violence everyday. AVP also conducts workshops for teenagers, battered women's shelter residents, youth home residents, homeless shelter staff members, businesses, and other community groups. An entire small town in Colorado has chosen to go through our program. In 1994, the UN sent our facilitators to work with youth in the refuge camps. In Nicaragua the national police force receive our training as part of their efforts to defuse violence.

Where do participants come from?

• Teachers


• Psychologists


• Boys and Girls Club staff: their clients often struggle with issues of violence, and organizations always have their own conflicts.


• Homeless: Their input and sharing really empowers workshops


• Ex-gang members: where the action is


• Social Workers


• Retired: AVP groups have bloomed due to their commitment.


• The Courts: An AVP workshop must not be the sole alternative to incarceration, i.e.: there must be an element of volunteerism.


• Churches: there's a large (nondenominational) element of spiritualism to be found in workshops.

Key Benefits In Communities:

• Increased Skills in Peacefully Handling Difficult Family Situations
  
  • Parents Applying Discipline Without Alienating, Improving Relationships with Their Children
  
  
  • Children Cooperating More Because They View Themselves as an Important Part of the Family
  
  
• Neighborhoods with More People Capable of Relating Well with Others and Desiring that Their Neighbors Do Well Because of "Community Building"


• Schools Having a Larger Community of Positive Peaceful Young People, Who are Specifically Better Able to Cope with Difficult Situations In School and Out


• Parents & Teachers More Able to Cooperatively Educate Youth


• Students More Able to Be Attentive and Cooperative in Their Education Because of Less Stressful Lives


• More Positive Influx as Prison & Youth Authority Inmates are Positively Reintroduced into Society, Rather than Simply Being Released

AVP FOR YOUTH

The first AVP workshop was organized due to a perceived need to counter youth violence. However, during its early years, AVP focused on adults. The program as presented in the general Manuals works well down to 16 years old, and some of 14 and 15 have fit in well in a workshop with older participants. Due to widespread interest in youth workshops, an AVP Youth Manual has been published. This manual, and the workshops it addresses, are tailored to 10-16 year-olds.

AVP has always had an association with other youth and children's programs, such as CCRC (Children's Creative Response to Conflict) and HIPP (Help Increase the Peace Project, see: www.afsc.org/hipp.htm). An emerging youth entity comprised of AVP facilitators, RAVE (Real Alternatives to Violence for Everyone), has been conducting workshops in New Jersey.

Where, and for whom have Youth Workshops been done?

• Juvenile Justice "clients" & Young Offender Centers


• School Rooms: part of the curriculum or special class


• Teen Moms groups


• Retreats

Key Benefits In High Schools:

• Better Communications in Relating...


• To Other Students


• To Teachers and Staff


• Within Families


• Skills to Defuse Potentially Violent Situations In School and Out


• Increased Desire to Contribute to Society Because of Increased "Community Building" (and the feeling of inner satisfaction at being an integral part of a society they are personally and measurably making better)


• Less Need for Some Aspects of What Gang Activities Offer Because of Increased Self-Esteem Through Participating in More Positive and Productive Ways
  
  • In School
  
  
  • In Personal Relationships
  
  
  • In Their Families
  
  
  • In Society
  
  
• More Tendency to Think Things Through and Plan for Better Outcomes

TESTIMONIALS