Can the city change the way it thinks?

By Noah R. Bombard

A student gets into a fight at school and is suspended. A man robs a convenience store and is sent to jail. If someone hits you, you hit them back. We live in a society where bad behavior is answered with punishment. But it's a system that Worcester resident Virginia Swain says doesn't work. And she and others want to change it — starting right here in the city.

Over the next three years, the Center for Global Community and World Law is holding events intended to spark a dialogue between people and groups in the city and to change the way people think about conflict and the way in which they interact with each other. The initiative, called "Creating a Culture of Peace," may seem a little ambitious — which Swain readily admits — but after two Worcester men in their 20s with extensive rap sheets were gunned down in their apartment in late October, Swain feels people in the city — at all levels — need to rethink how they deal with conflict. The idea, Swain says, is whether its gang violence, violence in schools or even the way in which neighborhoods and groups in the city interact, the human tendency to use force to accomplish what you want doesn't work.

"Old tensions, turf issues and conflict must be forgotten," Swain says.

Pie in the sky? Utopian? Naïve? Perhaps, but Swain has seen first-hand how it can work. A former mediator for Burncoat High School in Worcester, Swain trained students to work as mediators in the school to help other students. The idea was to stop simply reacting to troubled kids by punishing them and instead intervene to help them. Rather than face suspension, some troubled kids instead faced each other — in one-on-one or group meetings that helped students understand their peers, the pain they were feeling and how to accept responsibility for their actions.

"Usually the kids who are the most violent have suffered a lot of violence themselves," Swain says.

The problem is, Swain says, most of us don't know how to resolve conflict. Instead, when we're pushed, we push back. As a result, things only escalate.

"When people are hurting, we punish them," Swain says, "and that's not restorative. Restorative justice is about working with the community to restore the person to the community — to hold them accountable, but not to punish, because punishing makes it worse."

To get Worcester thinking differently, the Center for Global Community and World Law kicked off the Culture of Peace Initiative this week with talks and discussions at Worcester State College, the Worcester Club and Anna Maria College. These were led by Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, former United Nations ambassador from Bangladesh. Additional events are slated for Nov. 17, 27 and Dec. 6.

Swain says leaders from Worcester's schools, police and government organizations have yet to get behind the initiative in a concrete way, but that the grassroots effort is still in its infancy.

What do supporters of this push for peace hope to accomplish?

"I see people putting down their arms, literally, their guns. I see people putting down the arms that are inside of us — the ways that we treat each other that are disrespectful," Swain says. "I see us working together for our communities. I see us working very cooperatively. For those of us who want to work on this, it's an invitation that could unfold into a really big thing."

For more information on the Culture of Peace Initiative, how to get involved and a schedule of upcoming programs, log onto centerglobalcommunitylaw.org and keep an eye on Worcester Magazine's calendar for events. o