Source: (1999) Prison Service Journal (May): 9-12
The Alternatives to Violence Project grew out of an initiative to reduce violence at a maximum security prison in New York State in 1975. In this paper Bitel explains how this project operates within a restorative justice framework. He sketches the history of the project and how it operates in prisons. He also describes the project’s model of change. Specific aspects of the project’s principles and practices that he discusses include the following: restoration and healing; rebuilding self-worth; creating a supportive community; taking responsibility; and conflict transformation versus conflict suppression.
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