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Some of my best teachers are men doing time for violent crimes. Commonly born into communities torn by drugs, gangs and guns, these men grew up on the hard fast rules of the street. Along the way, they have been both victim and victimizer. They have hurt strangers as well as persons close to them and, sometimes, they have killed people. Incarcerated at the Maryland Correctional Institute - Jessup (MCIJ), few of these men are there by accident. Regardless of what events landed them in prison, I am learning from these men about the importance of personal dignity and strength of character in the work of peacemaking. I discover that persons experienced in the use of violence often have important insights into the power of nonviolent action and can make inspiring leaders in peacemaking.

I know these men through the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), which brings together prison inmates and non-prisoners for intensive 3-day workshops around issues of violence, personal growth, and nonviolent conflict resolution. AVP workshops empower participants to learn from past experience, take responsibility for their actions, and act from a place of personal power and positive motivation. The workshops are conducted by a leadership team balanced with both inside (prisoner) and outside (non-prisoner) facilitators who work together as equals.

Within the tight community of inside facilitators, I identify my teachers. Keith, Marvin, Tom and James have each been incarcerated for at least twelve years, and have been facilitating AVP workshops for two to six years. These men walk with a spirit of generosity and freedom rarely seen on the streets of Washington, and they seem to serve as mentors for many of the 1200 men at MCIJ. On a recent occasion, when a young man with a particularly violent history was moved to MCIJ, the Warden asked to see Marvin, requesting that he visit this new inmate in his cell for an hour or so each evening during his first week at MCIJ. The Warden didn't request anything more specific ö he was simply confident that Marvin's influence would be helpful in some way.

I am continually impressed by the way in which these men are regarded by other inmates. In the prison environment, where leaders are recognized for strength, wisdom, and whether they can "walk their talk" when challenged, the leaders of the AVP community appear to receive the same level of respect on the proving grounds of the prison yard as they do in the workshops they lead.

The AVP program is popular among the inmates at MCIJ, and the several 3-day workshops offered each month are always full. Facilitators lead the group through sequential stages of building community and trust among participants, developing communication and cooperation skills, observing behaviors that increase or decrease the potential for violence, and learning skills in creative conflict management. Activities include role-plays and a variety of experiential exercises, interspersed with lighter activities through which participants get to know each other and enjoy high-energy fun.

The primary text for AVP workshops is the material of our past and present lives. Group discussions draw upon the wisdom of all participants, rather than the knowledge of workshop leaders. As we share and process each other's experiences, we learn to develop greater awareness of the connection between our feelings, thoughts, behavior and actions. Most inmates return to take the second level workshop, which focuses more intensely on a particular theme such as fear, anger, communication or forgiveness. Participants interested in going on to become an AVP facilitator attend a training workshop and begin as an apprentice facilitator.

Transforming Power is a concept at the core of AVP philosophy. It has to do with an individual drawing upon his or her inner resources to act powerfully to change negative situations into positive outcomes. AVP encourages people to cultivate their faculties of reason, faith, language, creativity, intuition, humor, courage, patience, discipline, and attitude. Transforming Power is about using these faculties to take an active leadership role in resolving conflict. It requires that one be simultaneously aware of the feelings and reactions in oneself and in others, understand the tensions present in a conflict, recognize the various options available, and act decisively to create solutions that avoid or reconcile violence and injustice. On another level, Transforming Power is about creating positive change in oneself. It is about examining your own life history in order to redefine who you are, and to make the life changes that begin to fulfill your chosen identity. On various occasions, I have seen angry men with bad histories take the first steps toward re-identifying themselves with a more hopeful vision, and it is always a moving experience.

Tom, James, Keith and Marvin model this kind of leadership. They and other inmates have much to teach about the importance of respecting oneself and of showing respect to others, and about how to cultivate and carry a sense of personal dignity amidst dehumanizing and threatening circumstances. I find such prison lessons strengthening as I face the everyday challenges of my own life, relationships and work in the world.

I started facilitating AVP workshops in a federal penitentiary in Lompoc, California in 1992, and now help run the program at MCIJ, along with a small handful of local women and men. AVP began in 1975, when a group of inmates at Green Haven Prison in New York State invited a local Quaker project to help them create an educational program aimed toward reducing violence. Today, Alternatives to Violence Project, Inc. is a loosely organized grassroots network of volunteers offering workshops in prisons and other institutional and community settings across the United States and several other countries. AVP programs have been conducted in seven Maryland prisons, each of which depends upon a dedicated group of local volunteers. People are the only resource of significant value in AVP.

I have good reasons for choosing to be an AVP facilitator. AVP offers me a meaningful way to break through the social and racial boundaries that divide America, and empowers me to dissolve discriminating myths and stereotypes that I know through experience to be untrue. I am a more courageous person for my work in prisons, and I can walk into uncertain and threatening situations confident of my ability to be genuine with the people I meet there, and to avoid bringing harm to myself and others. AVP teaches me how to speak more openly and listen more attentively in my intimate relationships. Through AVP, I have interacted with hundreds of people rejected by society and even their families, but with whom I have shared stories of the heart. AVP has convinced me of the inherent goodness in people, and the truth that human beings can and do change when they want to, and when they feel it safe to do so, and where they find companionship along the way. And I have met fine people ö both incarcerated and free ö with whom I drink from the same cup of the stories and lessons of our lives. I enjoy the flavor and the body of that wine, and the contentment it brings.

AVP provides a unique opportunity that goes well beyond learning about prison life and gaining skills in conflict resolution. Fortunately, the AVP programs in Jessup enjoy strong support from the MCIJ prison administration, which allows citizen participants to also attend the workshops. Outside participants - both men and women - are always welcomed by the inmates, and enrich the workshops in numerous ways.

If you are interested in participating in an upcoming AVP workshop in prison or in the community, please contact George Sinnott at 301-963-9245 or gsinnott@his.com.

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