Other Books

The books below, while not published by AVP/USA have been recommended by our members. All deal directly with conflict and violence in our world.

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Books FOR Children

Books ABOUT Children

Mediation/Conflict Resolution

Peace and Justice

Prisons/Death Penalty

Society and Violence

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

The Bird, the Monkey, and the Snake in the Jungle, by Kate Banks.
A bird, a monkey, and a snake coexist unhappily in a tree in the jungle. When a storm blows their tree down, they go out together in search of a new home, each with the dream of living alone. But every prospective home they come to is already occupied by other animals, and some of them are not at all friendly! After realizing there is safety in numbers, they find the perfect place to live -- another tree -- which they happily share with their new friend, the frog.

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Old Turtle, by Douglas Wood
This enchanting book for children and adults, promotes a deeper understanding of the earth and our relationship with all the beings who inhabit it. Discover how Old Turtle brings peace to all the beings of the world in this classic fable of respect for the earth and the diverse human family.

BOOKS ABOUT CHILDREN

Playing With Fire: Creative Conflict Resolution for Young Adults, by Fiona MacBeth, Nic Fine
Playing with Fire presents a complete training program for helping teenagers and young adults deal creatively with interpersonal conflict and violence. It explores the dynamics of anger, hurt, conflict, communication, cooperation, and assertiveness; teaches listening, mediation, and conflict defusing skills; and discusses when advocacy is more appropriate than mediation. Playing with Fire

Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill, A call to Action Against TV, Movie & Video Game Violence, by Dave Grossman & Gloria DeGaetano
The authors offer incontrovertible evidence, much of it based on recent major scientific studies and empirical research, that movies, TV, and video games are not just conditioning children to be violent--and unaware of the consequences of that violence--but are teaching the very mechanics of killing.

MEDIATION/CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Social Intelligence, the New Science of Human Relationships, by Daniel Goleman
I would like to recommend a book that I think may be of interest to facilitators, especially for advanced workshops. The writing style is very accessible and the author provides extensive citations for anyone interested in following up by going to the original research in neuro-physiology and other fields. I think it will be very helpful in giving accurate information in workshops, rather than passing on handed-down speculations.

Listener Lolya, AVP Facilitator

Nonviolent Communication, a Language of Compassion, by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D
Nonviolent communication is the lost language of humankind, the language of a people who care about one another and long to live in harmony. Using stories, examples and sample dialogues, Marshall Rosenberg provides everyday solutions to perplexing communication problems. In our present age of uncivil discourse and mean-spirited demagoguery, racial hatreds and ethnic intolerance, the principles and practices outlined in Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication are as timely as they are necessary to the peace resolution of conflicts, personal or public, domestic or international.

The Art of Forgiving, A Practical Path to Maturity and Inner Peace, Robin Casarjian Audio Cassette
What does it mean to forgive ourselves and others? How can we forgive if we feel angry, resentful, and guilty? How can we begin to free ourselves from the psychological bondage of hostility when we feel we're not ready to forgive? This audio series offers the opportunity to explore these and many other questions while giving listeners the tools for forgiving themselves and others, using exercises and guided visualization.

Forgiveness, A Bold Choice for a Peaceful Heart, Robin Casarjian
Drawing on the philosophy of A Course in Miracles, Casarjian gives a new and surprising definition of forgiveness and provides original exercises and meditations that acknowledge our hurt even as they lead us beyond it. The book explores special cases involving family members, crime victims, self-forgiveness, and forgiveness of God.

The Magic of Conflict, by Thomas Crum
This set of simple techniques, including meditation, breathing exercises, openness, and play--Aiki--leads gently to a reordered state of mind. From overcoming apathy to understanding how conflict doesn't have to mean contest, Aiki turns mind-body integration principles into powerful tools.

The New Peoplemaking, by Virginia Satir
Through simple games she helps you get in touch with what the existing relationships are among your family members and how they work, or why they may not be working as well as they might. She reaffirms that we own all of the parts of ourselves that make us who we are, and makes it easy and OK to take a look at them. Perhaps there are some behaviors that are puzzling, or get negative results that you see in yourself or other family members. After reading this book, you will see loving and comfortable ways to bring those behaviors into the light of day without criticism or embarrassment. Then, following simple but meaningful guidelines, you and your family will gain understanding and insight into behaviors and relationships that your family uses as its operating system. You will be able to work on changes that you decide to make, and continue to feel trust and support of your family.

PEACE AND JUSTICE

Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh
Being Peace has become a classic of contemporary religious literature. In his simple and very readable style, Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how our state of mind and body can make the world a peaceful place. In the rush of modern life, we often lose touch with the peace that is already available. We learn to use the very situations that pressure and antagonize us—traffic jams, a ringing telephone, dirty dishes—and transform them. Hanh's Being Peace integrates spiritual practice with social action. "If we are peaceful . . . our entire society will benefit from our peace."

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The Words of Gandhi, by Richard Attenborough
Over 150 selections from the letters, speeches, and writings of the Indian leader. Organized in five sections: Daily Life, Cooperation, Nonviolence, Faith, and Peace. Over 150,000 sold. Selected and introduced by the Academy Ward-winning director of Gandhi.

Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words, by Peace Pilgrim
From 1953 until 1981 Peace Pilgrim walked thousands of miles for peace among nations, groups and individuals, as well as for inner peace. She walked penniless, giving up even her name and her past identity, to live her faith. Consequently, this compilation of her teachings, to me, has enormous credibility, and the authentic ring of inner truth. This is the simplest and purest guide to inner peace I've ever encountered. It should appeal to people of all faiths, but especially to those of no faith -- seekers of spiritual truth who, for whatever reason, are not attracted to any particular "organized" religion. In essence, her message is a pure distillation of those core spiritual beliefs shared by virtually all religions.

I Have a Dream,by Martin Luther, Jr. King, Coretta Scott King
This new book, which beautifully evokes feelings of hope as well as despair, not only gives readers the opportunity to experience the eloquent speech in its entirety but also to see it anew through the eyes of 15 African American artists who have won the Coretta Scott King Award or received a Coretta Scott King honor book designation. Each artist depicts a portion of the story of the civil rights movement or his or her vision of the meaning of a section of the speech, thus bringing new perspective to Dr. King's words.

PRISONS/DEATH PENALTY

Beyond Prisons: A New Interfaith Paradigm for Our Failed Prison System, by Laura Magnani & Harmon L. Wray

This strong indictment of the current prison system, undertaken by two respected experts on behalf of the American Friends Service Committee, traces the history and features of our penal system, offers strong ethical and moral assessments of it, and lays out a whole new paradigm of criminal justice based on restorative justice and reconciliation. The book puts forward a 12-point plan for immediate changes.

Beyond Prisons opens a long-needed national dialogue on our responsibilities as citizens and as a nation to provide remediation rather than mere retributive incarceration, answerable to the common good and the justice of God.

Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul, by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Tom Lagana

In the spring of 2000, over 100,000 copies of Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul were distributed to prisoners, prison libraries and prison ministries throughout the United States. The hope was that this collection of stories would touch the hearts of prisoners and offer them hope and encouragement, as well as inspire them to transcend the limiting thinking and behaviors of their past.
The book was so successful that the co-authors soon found themselves flooded with requests for the book from family members, correctional officers, prison volunteers and others. Because of this huge demand, the decision was made to also release the book to the general public.

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Serving Time, Serving Others: Acts of Kindness by Inmates, Prison Staff, Victims, and Volunteers, by Tom Lagana and Laura Lagana

These inspiring and true stories reveal the restorative benevolence that is alive and well behind prison walls. Whether through a helping hand from another inmate, a gesture of kindness from a prison volunteer, or caring treatment and respect from a correctional officer, counselor, chaplain or other staff person, you will be uplifted as you read about amazing people who have performed humane acts in inhumane surroundings.

A Life For A Life, by Ernest Hill
From the acclaimed author of Satisfied with Nothin' comes a searing and unsparing story of the unlikely bond between an African-American father and the teenager who killed his son, a tale of violent self-destruction reclaimed by the inexhaustible power of love and forgiveness.

Dead Man Walking : An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, by Helen Prejean
A Catholic nun's impassioned memoir of her friendship with two death-row inmates, coupled with a plea for the abolition of capital punishment. In 1982, Prejean, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille, agrees to correspond with convicted rapist and murderer Patrick Sonnier, awaiting execution in Louisiana's electric chair. Letters lead to visits, and Prejean becomes spiritual advisor to the condemned man. Her counsel takes hold, and Sonnier dies repentant. It is Sister Helen Prejean's experience that is important in the book--the need to serve life in the context of death. She tells her story with a quiet eloquence, not indulging in diatribe or personal attack...Here is one voice for life. We really should need no other.

Forgiving the Dead Man Walking, by Debbie Morris
Illustrating the power and place of forgiveness in a fallen world, this is a dramatic, first-person account of a young woman's physical, emotional, and spiritual survival following her abduction, torture, and rape by the real-life murderer portrayed in the Academy Award winning movie, Dead Man Walking.

SOCIETY AND VIOLENCE

All God's Children, by Fox Butterfield
The search for insights into the epidemic of urban black violence took New York Times reporter Fox Butterfield to the South Carolina of the 1700s, a place where white notions of honor demanded immediate retaliation for the smallest slight. All God's Children focuses on two men, Butch Bosket and his son Willie, whose ancestors were slaves in a South Carolina county so violent it was called "Bloody Edgefield." Inheritors of a legacy of violence, both men began their criminal careers as boys and killed as young men. Though extraordinarily intelligent--Butch Bosket earned a doctorate while imprisoned--neither proved able to create a life for himself outside of prison.

Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic, by James Gilligan
Drawing on firsthand experience as a prison psychiatrist, his own family history, and literature, Gilligan unveils the motives of men who commit horrifying crimes, men who will not only kill others but destroy themselves rather than suffer a loss of self-respect. With devastating clarity, Gilligan traces the role that shame plays in the etiology of murder and explains why our present penal system only exacerbates it. Brilliantly argued, harrowing in its portraits of the walking dead, Violence should be read by anyone concerned with this national epidemic and its widespread consequences.

Preventing Violence (Prospects for Tomorrow)
by James Gilligan
Violence is most often addressed in moral and legal terms: "How evil is this action, and how much punishment does it deserve?" Unfortunately, this way of thinking, the basis for our legal and political institutions, does nothing to shed light on the causes of violence. Violent criminals have been Gilligan's teachers, and he has been their student. Prisons are microcosms of the societies in which they exist, and by examining them in detail, we can learn about society as a whole. Gilligan suggests treating violence as a public health problem. He advocates initiating radical social and economic change to attack the root causes of violence, focusing on those at increased risk of becoming violent, and dealing with those who are already violent as if they were in quarantine rather than in constraint for their punishment and for society's revenge. The twentieth century was steeped in violence. If we attempt to understand the violence of individuals, we may come to prevent the collective violence that threatens our future far more than all the individual crimes put together.