books – Peacebuilder Online /now/peacebuilder Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:32:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 ‘What Will Happen to Me?’ Speaks to Children of Prisoners /now/peacebuilder/2011/08/what-will-happen-to-me-speaks-to-children-of-prisoners/ Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:32:18 +0000 http://emu.edu/now/peacebuilder/?p=3992 In addition to the children of prisoners profiled in , the same question could be asked of many others touched upon in this edition of Peacebuilder: child soldiers and ex-combatants around the world; confused teens harmed by draconian school policies; survivors of trauma; overburdened officials in criminal justice, educational, and other systems mandated to exercise social control; and all others suffering under the prevailing philosophy of punishment and exclusion, rather than restoration and community building.

The children of prisoners, however, have been a hugely overlooked group until recently. As the book cover notes, “Every night, approximately 3 million children go to bed with a parent in prison or in jail.” This means that almost every schoolteacher in America is likely to have at least one child in class who fits this description.

Employed at Girls Inc. in Hagerstown, Maryland, Jenn Dorsch, MA ’10, (center) has been using What Will Happen to Me? to spark conversation within Secret Sisters, a weekly meeting of girls dealing with a family member’s incarceration. Alanis Graham (left) has faced her father being in and out of prison for years. Secret Sisters has given Alanis “the tools she needs to deal with any big emotional things that come along,” says her mother Beth, who articulates much gratitude for the support extended to her and Alanis. (Howard Zehr is in the background. Photo by Jon Styer.)

What Will Happen to Me? (Good Books, 2011) contains poignant photos by Howard Zehr of 30 children whose parents are incarcerated, along with the children’s thoughts, plus some reflections by their caregivers. Co-author Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz has compiled practical suggestions on such topics as “staying in touch,” “adjusting to a parent’s return,” and “self-care for family caregivers.” One of the main objectives of What Will Happen to Me? is to alleviate the sense of shame and isolation felt by the children of prisoners and to support their resiliency. The book also contains a valuable “bill of rights” for the well-being of these children.

Co-authors Howard Zehr and Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz are also frequent co-teachers of restorative justice topics at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. (Photo courtesy of Howard Zehr.)
]]> Church Conflict Can Be Healthy /now/peacebuilder/2009/10/church-conflict-can-be-healthy/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:03:01 +0000 http://emu.edu/blog/peacebuilder/?p=37
David Brubaker, Associate Professor of Organizational Studies. Photo by Jon Styer.

Professor has made it his life’s work to understand organizations and to teach them how to negotiate conflict in a healthy way. His 2009 book is based on his doctoral dissertation, for which he analyzed information on 100 Presbyterian and Episcopalian congregations in Arizona. Insights from the book include:

  • Congregations that succeed at change develop a culture that tolerates, if not encourages, disagreement. (p. 120)
  • Some disagreement, and some conflict, provides energy and generates ideas, but too much becomes destructive. (p. 106)
  • Leaders who learn to move towards conflict discover that they have opportunities to resolve issues when those issues are small, rather than attempting to fight fires when they are nearly out of control. (p. 108)
  • Anxious systems need non-anxious leaders. (p. 114)
  • Like people, congregations will generally only change when the pain of not changing (i.e. threat of extinction through dwindling membership) exceeds the pain and inconvenience of changing. (p. 100)
  • Organizations tend not to make major changes unless and until their leaders change. (p. 11)
  • Pastors beginning a new position would be well advised to study the congregation and build relationships before initiating major changes. Leaders have to earn the right to make changes. (p. 94)
  • Leaders who want to change their societies (or congregations) start by building a diverse group of change agents who must first learn how to cooperate with each other. (p. 126)
  • Leaders desiring to avoid destructive conflict will make structural changes slowly and deliberately, and they will introduce cultural changes gently and with substantial communication. (p. 120)
  • During any significant change process, things usually get worse before they get better. (p.96)
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