Seven years ago I first went to prison, as a participant in an "Alternatives to Violence Project" (AVP) workshop. Since then I've gone back many times, participating in, and eventually helping to facilitate, these intensive, three day events. During an AVP  weekend, participants not only hear about alternatives to violence, but experience directly a different way of relating to others and to themselves. I continue to be amazed how easy it seems  to bring out the best in the odd assortment of people who turn up for workshops. My involvement in the project has reinforced my conviction that it is not human nature that damns us to behave selfishly and aggressively.

In the essay I address questions that have emerged from my encounters in AVP, and from conducting life-story interviews with men incarcerated for violent offences. What should we make of the fact that so many of those who inflict violence on others have themselves been subjected to multiple forms of abuse? In particular, what does this mean for how we understand personal responsibility -- our own, as well as others? More generally, how can we respond to wrongdoing in ways that don't add to human misery, but inch us closer to a world that is peaceful and just?

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