As any social scientist knows, one must propose an alternative to undesirable behavior instead of simply condemning it. The alternative AFSC proposes is a program called H.I.P., Help Increase the Peace. H.I.P. workshops help teach kids alternatives to violence, how to control their own lives and confront prejudice. Trained mediators are available to act as an unbiased third party if so ordered by the court. Defendant and plaintiff and either one or two mediators confine themselves to a room and talk for hours, sometimes days, until a satisfactory solution is reached.
Mediators are unassuming, armed only with the ability to respect all parties involved.
Like H.I.P. training, mediation struggles to uncover the simple, unchallenged assumptions that pave the way for violence, disposing of behaviors instead of people. Updated by Allegro Web Communications on August 6, 1997.