Christopher Walker - March 2011 journal letter

Alternatives to Violence Project

Dear Friends,

In my last journal letter I described some of the variety of the work I’m doing here at the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) – a small charity that helps people develop new ways of handling conflict without using or suffering from violence. This range of work is still keeping me busy. I’m in the design stage of a learning pack on handling conflict. I’ve just completed some work on communicating AVP’s effectiveness more clearly. Promoting the work of AVP to London communities has been on-going. However, in this entry I’m going to concentrate on a theme of my work that I’ve been thinking a lot about recently: offenders and the Criminal Justice System.

The reality of working for a small violence reduction charity is that funding is sporadic. This has meant that, after a few months waiting on a large funder, we have now had the go ahead for a new project with offenders in the community. AVP has worked with prisoners since its founding in a New York Prison in 1975. Prison violence, a widespread and increasing problem in Britain, is something that threatens both prisoner’s safety and their chances of rehabilitation. But problems facing offenders don’t end in prison. Many offenders in the community face homelessness, drug misuse, and mental health problems. Although many first criminal convictions don’t relate to violence, past violence on prison wings, the pressures of supporting oneself and family, and adjustment back in to family and community life mean that conflicts come up regularly for offenders.

After searching for a partner organisation to deliver workshops to offenders in the community, a number of charities came back showing keen interest in the project. By attending our new Open College Network accredited AVP workshops, these participants will now be able to gain credits towards a qualification. They’ll not only be able to address problems around conflict, but help build towards employment, a key safeguard against reconviction. So it’s great that the first workshops will start in April. We’re hoping that some of these participants will go on to attend more and train as AVP facilitators.

Another small but significant project I’ve recently completed for AVP Britain also follows a criminal justice theme. This has involved co-ordinating and writing AVP’s response to the Ministry of Justice’s public consultation on ‘Breaking the Cycle’, a green paper that outlines plans to reduce Britain’s 60% reconviction rate amongst offenders. My projects at AVP have led me this year to try and get my head around the Criminal Justice System (CJS), and writing this response has been a way of exploring what AVP work in prisons can tell us about the problems that the CJS holds. AVP’s work highlights the need to reduce prison violence. Assault incidents in prison in England and Wales rose by 60 per cent between 2000 and 2009. Our response points out that in order to help prisoners change outlook and behaviours, personal safety on the prison wing is fundamental. An environment of violence and threat leaves little room for building positive relationships and building social skills. As many prison workshop participants claim, an experience like AVP comes as a rare opportunity to find new ways of communicating and cooperating in a safe and positive space. Within AVP’s strategic plan is a long-term vision to become a national voice on issues surrounding interpersonal violence in the UK. Writing this response has been a small but constructive first step in thinking about what the experience of the organisation has to say in respect to government policy.

In February, all four UK Peaceworkers went up to York to visit the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, who provide half the money for the Peaceworker scheme and fund a large amount of peace charities in the UK. We all spoke to their peace committee about how things are going in our work. It was a great opportunity to reflect and to hear in more detail what the other Peaceworkers have been doing. We also got to meet the committee members who do a wide range of peace work: academics working in peace and conflict studies, charity workers and those who volunteered on the committee just from an interest in JRCT’s work.

The treats continue this weekend with the Peaceworker trip to Amsterdam- something we’ve all been looking forward to but alarmed just how quickly this halfway-marker to our year has come. Although the UK Peaceworkers, all living in London this year, meet up regularly, we’ll also get to see the Programme Assistants at the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva and the Quaker Centre for European Affairs in Brussels. It’ll be a chance to think about where we’ve got to, what we want from the rest of the year, and to remember why we’re doing it. As last year’s Peaceworkers have told us, it’s a welcome rest!

I’ll end with a quick plug:

Here I’ve told you about one of the specific groups AVP works with, but don’t forget we get all sorts coming to workshops. AVP is for anyone interested in new ways of handling conflict and building healthy relationships. Why not come to a workshop? They’re held up and down the country over weekends throughout the year. Find out more info at www.avpbritain.org.uk.

In peace,
Chris Walker