Danesh Fever in The World of The Mind On Causes & Prevention of Violence

FEVER IN THE WORLD OF THE MIND
On Causes and Prevention of Violence
H.B. Danesh
Note thou: could these fevers in the world of the mind, these fires of war and
hate, of resentment and malice among the nations, this aggression of peoples
against peoples, which have destroyed the tranquillity of the whole world ever be
made to abate except through. . . ?
—‘Abdu’l-Bahá
No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
—Albert Einstein
I
THE ENIGMA OF HUMAN VIOLENCE
Human beings have always committed violence. The faces of violence are
many. They include self-mutilation and suicide, injury to others and homicide,
conflicts and wars, cruelty to animals, and destruction of nature and property.
However, in recent times both the extent and intensity of human violence have
increased dramatically. The twentieth century has by far been the most violent
period in human history. Two World Wars and many extremely destructive
regional wars; the Holocaust; Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the political purges of the
Stalin era; the Cultural Revolution in China; deprivations imposed and cruelties
committed by the more powerful on the abject masses in Africa, Asia, and the
Americas; and religious, racial, and ethnic conflicts throughout the world are
among the most well-known examples of violence during the twentieth century.
Published by EFP Press, Victoria, Canada, August 2014

Danesh, H.B. Fever in the World of the Mind EFP Research/Review Series–All rights reserved
Now in the twenty-first century, international terrorism has been added to the
list. There are still other virulent forms of violence that continue to plague
humanity: violence against women, children, the aged, the poor, those with
physical and mental challenges, minorities, and the underprivileged. Violence is
found in every culture and stratum of human society.
Usually, when we hear startling statistics about violence or are informed by
the media of certain unusual episodes of violence, we are shocked and begin to
search for answers. However, not infrequently, we soon recover our equilibrium,
forget the statistics and the events, and divert our attention to other tasks of life
such as our jobs, health, education, vacation, and recreational plans. We do so
because a very common response to violence is to avoid thinking about it and, if
possible, forget it altogether. Generally, we focus on violence only when we are
forced to do so, such as when we ourselves are victims of violence or live in the
midst of a very violent environment. This tendency to avoid dealing with violence
effectively is curious, given the fact that careful study of the phenomenon of
human violence clearly shows how widespread and damaging are the
consequences of violence in any society. While there is considerable agreement
about the existence of violence and its undesirability, there is far less consensus
about the causes of violence and even dramatically less agreement about how to
deal with violence when it occurs. Finally, there seems to be little support for the
notion that we can create a violence-free society. In this essay I will argue that
creating societies considerably free from violence is within our powers, but to
accomplish this task we need to dramatically alter our understanding of the
nature, causes, and dynamics of violence and our role in creating it.
Most researchers and experts identify psychological, social, and biological
causes in the development of violence. The broadly accepted view is that under
certain conditions it is understandable, acceptable, and even inevitable that
people behave violently. Many contributing factors have been implicated. Among
them are early childhood traumas like neglect, abuse, abandonment, loss,
rejection, and humiliation. Other factors are explosive personality, poor impulse
Published by EFP Press, Victoria, Canada, August 2014 2

control, low frustration threshold, and unspecified brain dysfunction and lesions.
Alcohol and other addictive agents are also identified as among the main culprits
in causing violence. Many societal factors that create conditions of insecurity and
threat have also been found to contribute to the creation of conflict and violence.
These diverse causes of violence are all understood within the framework of a
generally held view that violence is innate in human nature and that the best we
can do is learn how to decrease its frequency and destructiveness.
Central to these views is the notion that under certain conditions the
individual chooses to be violent, is forced to be violent, or has no control over
behaving violently. Psychological theories of violence tend to emphasize forces
and dynamics beyond the individual’s control. As such, they tend to explain away
the violence, removing much of the responsibility from the individual and placing
it instead on one or more factors that are rooted in the past, part of human
nature, an expression of one’s personality make-up, a self-protection mechanism
created by the forces of evolution, an outcome of certain biological anomalies, or
attributable to the controlling powers of alcohol and drugs. A very common, but
usually unfounded, view about those who commit violence is that they suffer
from “mental illness.” Simply put, they are considered to be “crazy,” and as such
neither they nor their “violence” could in any way reflect upon us.
Sociological theories consider human violence to be caused by adverse social
conditions such as poverty, prejudice, injustice, racism, sexism, structural
inequality, historical events, and gun availability. According to these views, when
people live under conditions of hardship and threat (actual or perceived), they
become deeply frustrated and prone to violence. These theories place the root
causes of violence outside the person’s reach and see the violent individual as a
victim of an unjust society who, in turn, makes other innocent people the victims
of his or her own fury. This vicious cycle gradually eats away at both the psyche of
the individual and the soul of the society. People begin to lose hope; the
perpetrators of violence become more violent; and the victims of violence become
more fearful and at times vengeful. Open conflict, social disorder, and, not

infrequently, war become the main instruments for resolution of conflicts. Thus,
a culture of conflict develops. In such a culture, individuals begin to arm
themselves, and governments become ever more militant and punitive. Calls for
more police and prisons become ever louder, and the society finds itself divided.
On one side are proponents of law and order who call for safer communities with
harsher punishments and, on the other side, are those who greatly fear the
tyranny of force and call for greater individual freedom. The same dynamics
influence governmental policies regarding the level of their military budget and
“defense” preparations. Armies are formed, ever more sophisticated and
destructive instruments of war are created, increasingly harsher laws are enacted,
ever-larger prisons are built, and much of the society’s intellectual and financial
resources are devoted to dealing with violence through the instrumentality of
force. Such is the multifarious culture of violence that characterizes our world
today.
Other theories of violence endeavor to explain violence in genetic and
biological terms. However, many scientists caution that the likelihood of finding a
single gene or a handful of genes for violence is very remote. The biological
approaches to understanding the causes of violence are based on observations
that some violent individuals have certain genetic abnormalities or chemical
aberrations of the brain, most notably in the neurotransmitters. Geneticists are
actively searching for the “violence” gene, and neurobiologists are now
enthusiastically searching for chemical substances that could correct these “brain
anomalies,” thus allowing treatment of violent individuals with genetic
modification and/or specific medications. However, even the most optimistic
promoters of biological theories admit that this is not the definitive answer to the
problem of violence.
Finally, a large body of opinion sees violence as a moral issue and considers
violent people to be morally defective individuals. Based on this perspective, it is
suggested that violent individuals should be punished severely enough to

discourage them from repeating their negative behavior and to warn others that
crime does not pay.
These four perspectives on violence all have certain valid explanations
regarding the causes of violence and offer some solutions that are to a certain
degree effective. However, none of these perspectives on violence unequivocally
identifies a definitive explanation as to what creates violence and what can be
done about it. The psychological schools prescribe psychotherapy; the
sociological theorists advocate social changes and improvements; biologists
search for the magical drug and the defective gene; and moralists call for bigger
jails, stiffer penalties, and stronger, bigger armies.
These varied approaches to the problem of violence, separately and
collectively, fail to offer an effective solution to this serious problem. In fact, some
countries, particularly those with greater social and economic resources such as
the United States, Western European Countries, Canada, Australia, and Japan,
have developed impressive programs of psychological intervention and training,
social reform and community development, legislative innovations and
enforcement policies, and research activities and scientific inquiries—all aimed at
reducing the rate of violence and dealing with it when it occurs. These measures
have been to varying degrees successful. However, despite all these efforts and
accomplishments, there is enough evidence that the battle against violence in its
manifold forms—family violence, community and interethnic discord, terrorism,
and war—is being lost. Why?
Why is Violence Winning?

To answer the question of why violence is winning, it is useful to begin with
ourselves. We must take responsibility for human violence before we are able to
better understand its causes and find more effective ways of preventing it. As a
first step, we need to acknowledge a few painful facts about ourselves and the
kind of societies we have created. There are many ways that we as individuals,
deliberately or inadvertently, contribute to the presence and prevalence of

violence in our families and communities. We contribute to the promotion of

violence if we are prejudiced against other people; if we are silent in the face of
injustice; if we feel superior to others by reason of our race, religion, sex, ethnic
origin, social status, formal education, or material belongings; if we contribute to
the industries of war through our knowledge, expertise, investments, and work;
and if we consider violence to be solely the fault of others. On the surface, this
seems to be a harsh verdict and can be rejected outright. However, the fact is that
the individual is the main actor in the arena of human life. All human activities
are ultimately based on individual activities. We cannot dissociate ourselves from
the world in which we live and must accept our share of responsibility for its
state.
A Culture of Violence
Almost all societies in the contemporary world are to some degree violent. Some
are openly violent toward foreigners; others are also violent toward segments of
their own population. In some cultures, certain forms of violence (such as
violence against women) are considered acceptable and even necessary. In other
cultures aggressive, individualistic, and legalistically violent forms of behavior are
not only tolerated but also actively encouraged. In some cultures, the number of
guns in the hands of citizens equals or surpasses the number of the entire
population, and possession of a gun is justified in the name of security, freedom,
democracy, and even justice.
Aside from these specific conditions, a world characterized by extremes of
wealth and poverty; racial, ethnic, and religious prejudices; widespread violence
against women, children, the elderly, the handicapped, and the poor; and a
general disregard for the fact that millions of children and adults die every year of
malnutrition, poor hygiene, and preventable diseases is a violent world indeed.
Furthermore, the fascination of the media, the entertainment industry, and the
general population with violence is an indication that our societies have an

ambivalent even contradictory attitude toward violence. On the one hand, we

seem to dread violence, yet on the other hand, we are extremely fascinated by it.
The alarming incidence of mass killings in schools and public places in the
United States and elsewhere1 has led to a renewed debate on gun control, self-
protection, and the right to bear arms, particularly in the United States. These
tragedies and the ensuing controversy clearly depict some of the main elements
of cultures of conflict and violence, particularly with respect to the close
relationship regarding guns, violence, and safety. While the role of a gun as an
instrument of violence is undeniably evident, its role for personal or group safety
and self-protection is far less clear. In fact, research points to the opposite and
indicates that the presence of gun often increases the possibility of extreme and
injurious violence. In 1995, Kellermann and colleagues reported in the Journal of
the American Medical Association that the risks of keeping a gun in the home are
greater than its benefits.2 In a later study, these researchers found that “guns kept
in homes are 22 times more likely to be involved in unintentional shootings,
criminal assaults, homicides and suicide attempts than to be involved in injuring
or killing in self-defense.”3
There is another side to the use of guns and other modalities of violence.
Human violence takes place between individuals; within small and large groups,
countries, and religions; and in many different forms, including murder, war,
terrorism, and genocide. John Ralston Saul observes that in the war of 1914–1918
“Western civilization combined modern technology and management methods. . .
to produce the first organized slaughter of our own citizenry.” In response to
what happened, we first “settled into self-denial” and then “simply blinked as the
massacres continued. There were the Soviet liquidations in the cause of socialist
purity. Later, the gays and gypsies were killed by Nazis with a pretense of moral
responsibility. But it is the murder of those six million Jews for no reason at all
which brought the other massacres into perspective. The Holocaust stands as the
clear sign of a civilization out of control.” In the ensuing six decades since the
Holocaust we have failed to prevent genocides and ethnic cleansings in such

places as Indonesia, Cambodia, Iran, Iraq, the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and
Yugoslavia. Saul then makes this sobering statement: “We cannot dissociate
ourselves from actions which are largely carried out with weapons we
manufacture and sell. Nor from actions carried out in the context of political
differences which we invent and encourage. And even when we have not
directly encouraged these conflicts, they are often the outcome of an approach
towards the nation-state which we invented, which made its way through the
West with positive and negative results, and which we have now more or less
dropped. But before doing so, we did everything we could to spread this
approach to the colonies.”4 The significance of these observations about conflict-
based ideologies, genocides, and wars, as well as research findings on guns,
becomes more apparent as we study the role of worldview in shaping human
behavior.
A Violence-Based Worldview
There are certain widely held mindsets and ideologies that by their very nature
promote and sanction violence. These mindsets are in fact expressions of our
views on human nature and the dynamics of human relationships. Although
these views usually have no scientifically or empirically valid basis, nevertheless,
they are strongly held because they have their roots in the tortuous process of the
development of human identity. Here are some examples of violence-based ideas:
• The idea that “might is right”;
• The idea that conflict is an innate, unavoidable property of human nature;
• The idea that conflict is necessary for human progress;
• The idea that men are superior to or more important than women;
• The idea that some people are created “evil”;
• The idea that the main purpose of justice is to punish;
• The idea that individual rights and freedoms take precedence over those
of the society;
• The idea that the welfare of the society takes precedence over individual
rights and freedoms;

• The idea that human values, moral standards, and ethical principles are
all relative and that there is no universal code of ethics which could be
applied universally;
• The idea that human diversity begets violence;
• The idea that the best antidote to violence is violence;
• The idea that power and force create security and ensure survival;
• The idea that competition is essential for success;
• The idea that human reality is extinguished at death;
• The idea that religions are fundamentally different in their essence and
that our religion is superior to other religions;
• The idea that science and religion are fundamentally irreconcilable;
• The idea that God does not exist or is irrelevant to human actions.
These conflict-based and dichotomous ideologies are characteristics of
violence-based worldviews. They imply that self-interest and greed are
inescapable forces that determine many people’s behavior, that the reality of the
oneness of humanity is not yet fully grasped by the majority of us, and that
materialism continues to dim the lights of compassion and spirituality in people’s
hearts and minds. These views and attitudes clearly show that the culture of
violence, in its manifold expressions, is a well-established and highly seductive
aspect of the contemporary world. However, this list does not provide us with
specific answers to the questions about the nature and prevention of violence and
its effective management when it occurs. To address these questions, we need to
understand how our worldviews are formed and how they impact our
understanding of violence.
Worldview and Violence

Worldview:
We all have a worldview, a view about reality, human
Our view of the:
nature, the purpose of life, and the laws governing • Nature of Reality
human relationships. Our worldviews develop in the • Human Nature
• Purpose of Life
context of our life experiences, cultural norms, and • Human
constant challenges and opportunities that life presents Relationships

to us and to our communities. As such, worldview both shapes and justifies our
thoughts, feelings, and actions. It is this self-containing character of worldview
that renders it extremely influential in all human affairs, whether conflicted or
peaceful in nature. To better understand the causes of human violence and to
identify the requirements for creation of unified and peaceful life conditions, we
need first to better understand the nature and type of worldviews we hold and
within whose frameworks we operate.
Our worldviews develop in a passive manner, and unless we make a deliberate
effort to understand and, if necessary, change them, they continue to shape our
approach to all aspects of life, usually at a subconscious level. However, when our
worldviews fail to adequately explain and deal with serious life challenges and
crises, then we are forced to review and, if necessary, change them. And this, in
my opinion, is our current situation with respect to the issue of human violence.
We need to take a serious look at the prevailing worldviews and their role in
creating all types of conflicts and violence. I have identified three metacategories
of worldview—survival-based, identity-based, and unity-based.5
The survival-based worldview is the most prevalent mindset throughout
human history and in the contemporary world. It views
Types of
Worldview: the world as a dangerous arena of force, domination, and
• Survival-Based
subjugation, and it has as its main objective the security
• Identity-Based
• Unity-Based and survival of oneself and one’s group, which quite
frequently occurs in the context of conflict and violence.
The identity-based worldview has as it’s main focus the issue of individual and
group identity, usually in the context of relationships characterized by power-
struggle, survival of the fittest, and considerable conflict. The unity-based
worldview is the hallmark of the coming of age of humanity and has as its main
objectives creating interpersonal, intergroup, and global relationships based on
mutual trust and cooperation within the parameters of equality, justice, unity,
and peace.

The first two of these worldviews have always been, and continue to be, the
most prevalent in all societies and correspond with a type of individual and group
psychosocial development that is highly conflict-prone. Therefore, it is not
surprising that conflict and violence have forever been prominent facets of
human life and history. However, as humanity inevitably evolves in the path of its
development, it will begin to adopt unity-based worldviews; and as a result the
occurrences of conflict and violence will gradually but decidedly decrease.
Indeed, the process of worldview transformation has already begun. Over the
past two centuries, the transition of many societies away from authoritarian and
dictatorial forms of relationships and governance (characteristics of the survival-
based worldviews) to those of individualism and adversarial democratic practices
(characteristics of the identity-based worldviews) is a clear demonstration of the
dramatic alteration in the prevailing worldviews. The transition to identity-based
worldviews that gained momentum in the nineteenth century is now the
predominant worldview espoused and promoted by Western societies and by
various regional and international organizations. While replacement of survival-
based worldviews with identity-based worldviews is a major step in the
advancement of humanity, it is by no means the culmination of the process of
human individual and collective development. The process of humanity’s
progression is ongoing and ever advancing. We are not at the end of history.
Both survival-based and identity-based worldviews revolve around the issue
of power in human relationships. Survival-based worldviews are founded on the
principles of control and the oppressive use of power. These worldviews are
highly prone to conflict and violence, and usually give rise to dictatorial and
authoritarian modes of relationships and governance. Identity-based worldviews
are also based on the concept of power as the main instrument for arrangement
of human individual and group relationships. However, in this framework, power
is more evenly distributed, and human affairs are conducted within the politics of
power-struggle and competition, winning and losing, and compromise and
negotiation. Identity-based worldviews promote individualism, nationalism, and

other exclusive group-identities. These concepts are conflict-based by nature and

can easily degenerate into protracted conflict and even violence.
The unity-based worldview, which is now slowly emerging as a framework for
various types and levels of human relationships, is fundamentally different from
the other two metacategories of worldview. The central focus and prerequisite of
the unity-based worldview is unity, not power. Within the framework of unity-
based worldview, individual and group power is obtained through creation of
ever-expanding circles of unity in the context of diversity. This transition from
power-orientation to unity-orientation has profound impact on us, in general,
and on the research on violence, in particular. The following table summarizes
the main characteristics of each type of worldview.
Survival-Based Identity-Based Unity-Based

Worldview Worldview Worldview
World World is
World is a Jungle World is One
Perception Dangerous
Operating Survival of the

Might is Right Unity in Diversity
Principle Fittest
Mode of Just, equal,

Dichotomous Individualistic
Relationships Truthful
Ultimate To Survive and To Create

To Win
Purpose Control Unity and Peace
Mode of
Authoritarian / Adversarial / Consultative /
Decision-
Absolutist Relativistic Integrative
Making
Table 1: Worldview Types and Characteristics
Researchers and their Worldviews
There is no doubt that research conducted within the parameters of the scientific
method is the most valuable and one of the surest avenues for understanding the
causes of human violence and its prevention. However, because scientific
research takes place within the parameters of the worldview of the researcher, it

is essential that in consideration of any research modality or outcome we

consider the worldview within which that research is conducted and its data
interpreted. Thomas Kuhn, in his groundbreaking book The Structure of
Scientific Revolution, points to the relationship between the worldview of the
researcher and the scientific conclusions reached within its parameters. He states
that the development of science has alternating ‘normal’ and ‘revolutionary’
phases. The normal phase is the process of accumulation of more knowledge
within the existing paradigm. However, gradually as the prevailing worldview or
‘paradigm’ (in Kuhn’s words) loses its capacity to explain all issues under
consideration, a revolutionary phase in that discipline of science begins by the
introduction of a totally new—and usually very different—paradigm. Kuhn asks,
“What are scientific revolutions, and what is their function in scientific
development?” and provides a clear answer that scientific revolutions are “those
non-cumulative developmental episodes in which an older paradigm is replaced
in whole or in part by an incompatible new one.”6
The prevailing views on human violence could be summarized under two
broad categories: biological/genetic and environmental/learning. However, many
students of human violence consider it to be both genetically predisposed and
environmentally caused. Nevertheless, these concepts of violence, alone or in
unison, do not provide either convincing formulations on the nature of violence
or offer truly effective approaches for its prevention. The existing paradigms see
conflict and violence as inevitable and even necessary aspects of human life in the
context of conflicting interests, limited resources, and survival imperatives. They
neither adequately explain the genesis of human violence nor offer effective and
practical solutions on how to prevent its occurrence.
The main reason for this inability, in my view, is the fact that the dominant
worldviews that inform the existing theories on violence are conflict-based. Brian
Ferguson graphically describes the current beliefs on human violence and their
consequences: “The image of humanity, warped by bloodlust, inevitably
marching off to kill, is a powerful myth and an important prop of militarism in

our society. Despite its lack of scientific credibility, there remain those ‘hard-
headed realists’ who continue to believe in it, congratulating themselves for their
‘courage to face the truth,’ resolutely oblivious to the myth behind their ‘reality.’”7
Clearly, a new paradigm for understanding violence is needed.
I posit that human violence is the outcome of the violation of the primary law
governing all life and relationships—unity. Life takes place within the context of
unity-based relationships; and when the law of unity is violated, conflict and
violence ensue. Science is the process of discovery of relationships among objects
(physical sciences), living organisms (biological sciences), and humans (social
sciences). I propose that to understand the causes of human violence and to
discover how to prevent them, we need to study them within the framework of
the “unity paradigm.”
The Unity Paradigm

Unity is a concept and condition disarming in both its simplicity and complexity.
It is at once easy and difficult, accessible and beyond reach, one and many. The
Concept of Unity states that ‘unity’ rather than ‘conflict’ is the primary force in
both creating and shaping all aspects of human life: biological, psychological,
social, and spiritual. Unity is a conscious and purposeful condition of
convergence of two or more unique entities in a state of harmony, integration,
and cooperation to create a new evolving entity(s), usually, of a same or a higher
level of integration and complexity. The animating force of unity is love, which is
expressed variably in different conditions of existence.8 Unity takes place, first
and foremost, in our consciousness as a deliberate, purposeful phenomenon. We
have the option to create unity, and when we do so, we create conditions that are
conducive to life. Unity is life and life is unity. This formula depicts the
generative character of unity. Unity both creates and maintains life. Therefore,
we should not be surprised that in the absence of a conscious, deliberate effort to
create unity, disunity and conflict result and, often, violence follows. This

definition also states that conflict is the absence of unity, and disunity is the
source and cause of conflict.9
Within the framework of the unity paradigm a new Conflict is
definition of violence emerges: Violence is the direct outcome the absence
of unity.
of the violation of the law of unity. This definition states that
the presence of violence is a sure indication that essential Disunity is
the source
relationships between the involved parties have been ruptured, and cause
that the principle of organic connectedness of the human of conflict.
family has been ignored, and that the fundamentals of human integrity have been
violated. These three conditions—relationships, interconnectedness, and
integrity—are different expressions of the law of unity, which operates at the very
core of human reality.
Violence is done in words, attitudes, and/or actions. It inflicts physical,
psychological, social, moral, and spiritual injury and suffering on self, others, and
communities. Both victims and perpetrators suffer from the negative effects of
violence. Usually, the victims of violence primarily suffer from its physical,
psychological, and social trauma, while the perpetrators tend to be affected more
negatively from the psychological, social, and spiritual consequences of violence
they commit.10 Violence can also be inflicted on animals, on the environment,
and against property. It can be intentional or accidental, an act of commission or
the result of an omission. Violence can be implicit or explicit in the manner in
which it is committed and can be performed with either evil or good intentions.
However, regardless of how and what kind of violence is committed, one fact
remains constant: violence is destructive. Even when a lesser degree of violence
is committed in order to prevent a greater measure of violence, nevertheless, this
preventive act of violence also causes a certain measure of destruction. The most
effective approach to violence is always its prevention, and the only effective
approach to prevention of violence is the creation of ever larger and more
inclusive circles of unity. Unity building is a creative, generative process, and its

natural outcome is the formation of violence-free environments and harmonious

relationships.
It is interesting to note that Charles Darwin in The Descent of Man, in a
certain manner, foresaw rapid evolution of humanity towards a state of expanded
and universal togetherness and unity. He states:
“As Man advances in civilization, and small tribes are united into larger
communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought to
extend his social instincts and sympathies to all other members of the same
nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there
is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all
nations and races.”11

II
THE VIOLENT PSYCHE
Worldviews develop in the context of life processes—the challenges we face and

the opportunities we have—that shape our views about reality, human nature, the
purpose of life, and the character of our relationships. To better understand how
our worldviews relate to violence, it will be helpful to review the chronology of an
act of violence.
A Chronology of Violence
Violence is the final act in a series of conflicted developments in the mind of the
individual and has emotional, cognitive, relational, and behavioral dimensions.
There are five stages in the chronology of violence. Here, I describe them in
reverse order, beginning with Stage 5 in which violence has already taken place.
The reverse order is chosen for two reasons. First, in our world today,
governments, institutions, and individuals alike, tend to pay serious attention to
violence only when it has already taken place and has caused and is still causing
destruction. Starting from the last stage—when violence has happened—
graphically demonstrates the futility of this approach. Second, we start with the
discussion of violence in a reverse order—from outcome to cause, rather than
from cause to outcome—because individuals, institutions, and governments tend
to take the outcome more seriously than the cause since usually the outcome is
far more obvious than the cause.
Stage 5 is when Acts of Violence, with all their destructive consequences,
have taken place. At this stage all we can do is to take care of the damage and
perhaps learn from the experience to prevent its repetition.
Stage 4 refers to the moments immediately before violence is committed.
The main characteristic of this stage is presence of a strong Urge for Violence
and a desire to fight. However, this is not the person’s only urge. Under these

circumstances, the individual also has a very strong desire to escape from the
situation (flight). This choice between fight and flight separates those who
commit violence from those who do not. Understanding how this choice is made
and who is most likely to make which choice is very important. In this regard it is
important to note that the urge to leave the situation (flight) is not an indication
of cowardice, in the same way that the decision to fight is not an indication of
courage. Quite often, the opposite is true.
Stage 3 is the phase when Feelings of Violence are developing and the
person is struggling with a mix of strong feelings of anger, fear, and anxiety.
These three feelings are always together, usually with one in the forefront. When
strong, these feelings indicate a heightened sense of threat and vulnerability.
They focus the mind of the person (or the group) on the perceived dangers and
create a condition in which violence is both dreaded and contemplated. In this
phase, some individuals share their feelings with others and seek assistance and
assurance so that they can adequately deal with their inner turmoil. Others
become so angry, fearful, and anxious that people in their environment become
alarmed and take measures to help the person and defuse the situation. However,
there is a third group that feeds on their feelings of anger, fear, and anxiety and
proceeds to the next stage. Usually, when the feelings of anger predominate,
there is a greater likelihood of violence than if fear and/or anxiety predominate.
However, this is not always the case. In fact, some of the most destructive acts of
violence take place in the context of extreme fear and anxiety on the part of the
violent person.
Stage 2 is the phase in which the person has felt threatened by an event,
thought, or experience. The natural response to threats is an apprehensive
awareness of one’s vulnerability. Under these conditions the world is perceived to
be unsafe and dangerous, and Thoughts of Violence begin to enter the
consciousness of the person. In the face of threats, the person instinctively
responds with a combination of feelings of fear, anger, and anxiety. However,
depending on the nature of the threat, its intensity, the level of maturity and

capacity of the person, and the environment in which the threat is occurring, the
individual may respond to the threat either constructively or destructively.
Stage 1 is the phase in which the Precursors of Violence are present both
in the person and the person’s living environment. Individuals who have not had
the benefit of a secure, nurturing, enlightened, and supportive upbringing tend to
feel threatened easily and are more vulnerable to becoming violent. Also, it is
self-evident that the more unjust and violent a society is, the more threatening it
is for its citizens. Therefore, in Stage 1, we encounter those individual and societal
conditions that are conflict-ridden and act as precursors to violence. (Fig. 1)
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 New

Stage 1
Precursors Thoughts of Feelings of Urge for Acts of New cycle of

of violence violence violence violence violence violence
Figure 1. The vicious cycle of violence
Threats and Violence

There are five broad categories of threats, each taking place in respect to
personal, interpersonal, social, and spiritual dimensions of life. They are threats
to our individual integrity (existence), our sense of personal and group identity,
injustice, frustration (realization of ones incompetence), and violence. We feel
threatened when we perceive ourselves to be vulnerable. The threat can be actual
or imagined and can have different degrees of severity. However, not all
individuals perceive or respond similarly to the same threat. Our responses to
threats are determined by the nature of our life experiences, our perspectives on
human nature and the purpose of human life, the level of our maturity, and our
perception of the nature and source of the threat. Thus, one person feels at home
in her neighborhood, while another individual from a different segment of the
city may feel threatened in the same surroundings. A person who belongs to a
visible minority will feel safe in his/her own community and threatened in a
foreign setting. There are places in which men feel secure, but women feel

threatened. Some people fear dogs, while others feel more secure with dogs.
These and other similar examples demonstrate that the experience of threat is
determined both by the nature of the unique qualities and worldview of the
individual along with the conditions of the environment and its relative level of
stability and safety or anarchy and danger.
These five responses to threats occur in the
Five Categories of
context of normal life circumstances. Usually, Threats:
threats are in the form of such natural life events
• Threat to self-integrity
as serious illness, rejection by loved ones, failure
• Threat to self-identity
and loss of face, unjust treatment by others, • Injustice
inability to respond effectively various demands • Frustration
• Violence
(frustration) and being a victim of or witness to
acts of violence. However, when people and societies are subject to prolonged
periods of conflict and violence, then in addition to these ordinary responses to
threats, some extraordinary responses also take place. Two examples of
extraordinary responses to threats are glorification of violence and/or denial of
its presence.
Glorification of violence occurs in the context of a mindset that embraces
violence as a heroic quality and as a virtue. The violent person becomes a hero,
and an extremely violent individual evolves into a legend whose tales of courage,
foolhardiness, and naked aggression are recounted to the children and youth of
each generation. Thus, a culture of violence begins to develop. In such a culture,
poems, novels, songs, movies, and plays pay homage to heroes, and occasionally
heroines, of violence. In a violent culture, the science and technology of violence
are accorded priority over other areas of life such as health, education, and
community development. Also, the violent culture sets itself apart from other
groups and designates them as either its enemies or friends. In doing so, the
violent culture finds powerful rationalization and justification for its continuous
escalation of the scope and intensity of its preparation for and involvement in
violence in the name of security and self-defense.

Through this dichotomous perception of the world, violent individuals and

cultures perceive the world to be filled with dangerous, malevolent enemies who
could at any time attack and destroy them. Therefore, it is only prudent that
threatened nations or individuals be always on the alert and constantly add to
their armaments of defense and attack. These preparations and precautions
would all be reasonable only if the perception of the world full of ‘enemies’ often
were not inaccurate. In the twentieth century, we witnessed dramatic examples of
this process both before and during the First and Second World Wars as well as
the Cold War period between the superpowers and, in recent years, with respect
to the threat of terrorism. We also see the same process in many societies where
individuals arm themselves in the face of actual or perceived threats from their
fellow citizens. However, despite much evidence about the futility of this
approach, the notion that “we will be more secure if we possess more power to
respond to violence with violence” continues to persist. This is an enduring
characteristic of culture of violence.
The second, even more insidious response to persistent conflict and violence
is the development of a mindset that considers the ultimate outcomes of
violence—harm, injury, and death—as not being “real” and/or “permanent.”
When people live in a violent milieu for a long time, they begin to become
insensitive to the reality of violence and its most extreme outcome—death. Once
the reality of violence and death and their impact and permanence are denied,
violence and death then become the stuff of movies, video games, entertainment,
and fun. Serial television programs show extreme levels of violence in one
episode and depict the same actors in excellent state of health in the next episode
a day or week later. These programs give the impression that violence does not
have permanent and devastating effects. People watch movies and cheer for the
violent heroes who kill. Parents buy their children toy guns and video games,
depicting violence and death, as gifts for birthdays and other special occasions.
And children and youth begin to imitate the heroes of violence in deadly games
that they play to the bitter end.

Dynamics of Violence
Every violent act has mental, emotional, behavioral, and moral dimensions.
Because of this fact, violent individuals develop certain logic and formulate
particular justifications for committing their acts of violence. This combination of
logic and justification is usually known to the individual and is often revealed to
others. The manner of this revelation varies. Some individuals justify their acts of
violence in political or ideological terms such as injustice, nationalism,
patriotism, and defense of one’s race, religion, or ideology. Others explain their
violence in terms of love, either to assert their love for their own people or to
avenge the loss of their loved ones. Still others explain their violent acts in terms
of needs, wants, and self-interest. There are also other justifications such as self-
defense, insanity, and loss of self-control.
One main reason for attempts to justify violence is that violence is foreign to
the true nature of our humanness. Violence is a downward expression of human
nature in operation. The innate human quest for knowledge, love, fairness, and
compassion takes place in an upward direction. We are constantly drawn to ever-
higher planes of understanding, togetherness, unity, and other-directedness. The
main fallacy of the materialistic view of human nature is its downward
orientation. It is within this framework that all human activities are surmised and
understood in terms of survival, self-protection, pain-avoidance, pleasure
seeking, and greed. Within this formulation, human violence is considered
natural and even necessary. However, the very process of development of human
civilization points to the opposite direction. Every positive and creative (as
opposed to destructive) progression in human individual and collective life is
clear evidence of the upward direction of humanity in its ongoing development.
The processes of humanization and civilization, by their very nature, are
antithetical to acts of barbarism and violence. To better understand the root
causes of violence we need to explore the dynamics and nature of the operation of
the mind of violent individuals and groups. We need to better understand the

workings of the violent psyche. In her July 4, 2005 article in the New York Times,
Marlise Simons clearly depicts the manner in which these five stages of violence
are expressed in practice and also gives a good example of the violent psyche. The
article describes the manner in which the military and political leaders of the
Serbian (Orthodox Christian) segment of the Bosnia and Herzegovina planned
and killed some 8000 Bosniak (Muslim) men and boys, and rationalized their
heinous crime against humanity in the name of protection of their people from
non-existent threat to them.
The Violent Psyche

The violent psyche is a conflicted, threatened, passionate, agitated, angry, and
desperate psyche. In many ways, it mirrors the outward conditions of the life of
the violent person. Likewise, the soul of a violent society is conflicted, agitated,
desperate, and burdened with the diseases of injustice, inequality, prejudice, and
indifference. Occurrence of violence in a society indicates not only the presence of
highly conflicted and violent-prone individuals but also the prevalence (both in
the life of individuals and the society) of ideas, sentiments, and practices that, by
nature, are themselves conflicted and violent. In other words, violence is the
outward expression of a profound inner disorder both in the individual and
society. Neither could (or should) be absolved of their respective responsibilities.
Both require attention.
At the individual level, violence is one major outcome of the disorders of the
human capacities of knowledge, love, and will.12 These capacities are the main
properties of the human psyche and are subject to the laws of growth, as are all
aspects of human life. In other words, every human being has the capacity to
know, love, and act. In fact, all aspects of human life are expressed through one
or another of these universal human capacities. Therefore, when a child is
deprived of proper education, is reared in threatening and uncaring
circumstances, or is not helped to develop the inner strength to discipline the
powerful instinctual and emotional forces which beset his/her life, then that child

does not have the opportunity to develop his/her powers of knowledge, love, and
will properly and adequately. Consequently, a complex set of disorders of the
psyche besets the individual and results in the development of various forms of
destructive thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Disorders of knowledge, love, and will are destructive conditions that occur
when opportunities for the healthy development of these powers of the human
psyche are not present. Violence is an expected outcome when we, as individuals
or societies, live lives of unawareness, untruthfulness, disunity, self-centeredness,
prejudice, and injustice. These conditions are prevalent in many families and
societies, and are aspects of many people’s perspectives on human life and its
purpose. And they are all expressions of the disorders of knowledge, love, and
will. Therefore, we should not be surprised that violence is constantly on the rise
in our world both in frequency and intensity. We also need not look very far to
find the root causes of violence: it is rooted in our thoughts, sentiments, and day-
to-day practices. Violence is the sick, but legitimate, child of our cultures. It will
be with us as long as we try to eradicate it as though it were a foreign pathogenic
agent that has invaded our psyche and society. In fact, both individual and
societal violence are created by human beings as the result of the ways we form
our thoughts, deal with our feelings, and justify our actions.
Violence is a product of the conflicted mind. When the human mind is focused
on untruth and self-centered pursuits, and is afflicted by the conditions of
prejudice, segregation, deprivation, and humiliation, such a mind becomes
entangled in the mesh of its own illusions, delusions, and misperceptions. It
begins to focus on all that is wrong with the world and gradually sets itself apart
from the world. Eventually, it sees itself in opposition to the world, and a furious
battle between self and the world begins in the world of the mind. Here, all the
fury, heat, and destruction of the battlefield are present, afflicting the mind and
making it feverish with violent thoughts, feelings, and desires. Thus, in almost all
cases of violence much internal rehearsal has taken place, and the end result of

the violence has been already determined in the world of the mind. The violent
act is, therefore, the first outward act, often followed by other such actions.
In the same manner, when the soul of a society becomes unhealthy and
enervated, it develops ideologies, sentiments, and practices that are clearly
destructive and violent. The ultimate outcome of this process is that the violent
society—like the violent individual—finds itself unable to change the nature of its
actions even in the face of enormous evidence of their destructiveness. Consider
the mindless adherence to racism in many parts of the world, the senseless love
affair with guns so prevalent in many countries, and the destructive materialism
that has afflicted the whole of humanity. These conditions are all potent, obvious
causes of both conflict and violence; yet, they are defended by many people with
such passion, misguided logic, and pathological self-interest that they are willing
to sacrifice their own and their family’s and society’s wellbeing and peace to
maintain them. Here, with a few exceptions, we are not dealing with criminal,
ignorant, mentally ill, or malevolent individuals and communities. Rather, often
we are dealing with well-educated, sincere individuals and communities whose
worldviews are shaped by the pervasive misconceptions and misunderstandings
as to the nature of human reality and the purpose of human life. Consequently,
they defend their ideas with much sincerity, not realizing that they may be
sincerely wrong!

III
VIOLENCE: A SYMPTOM OF A DISEASE
Any discourse on human violence must take into consideration the relationship
between the biological and psychological dimensions of human nature. A human
being is by definition a conscious being with psychological powers of
comprehension, integration, and intention or, put more generally, the capacities
to know, love, and will. Human consciousness operates in harmony with the
biological dimension of our reality, which itself is subject to a coherent, cohesive,
and instinctive process. These three qualities are the mirror expressions of the
qualities of comprehension, integration, and intention. Biological and
psychological processes never take place in isolation from one another and
always operate according to the all-encompassing law of unity. When life begins,
a state of unity between biological and psychological processes is put into motion.
When this unity is removed, death sets in, and these processes cease to operate.
Thus unity is life. In other words, through unity of the psychological and
biological processes life begins. In the absence of the psychological processes, the
body is in a vegetative state, devoid of consciousness, initiation, and action. And
when the body is dead, the psychological powers of knowledge, love, and will are
deprived of the essential tool—the human body—to express themselves.
The essence of being human is consciousness: the ability to know and
understand, to love with full awareness and resolve, and to choose the direction
and nature of our knowledge and love in the context of freedom. Consciousness is
the outcome of unity between psychological and biological aspects of human life.
Without this unity there is no consciousness, and without consciousness there is
no life. This primal unity is the beginning and the cause of life, and life cannot
continue unless its unity is maintained. As stated before, unity is life and life is
unity. This formula contains the metaphysics of conflict resolution and peace

creation and helps us to better understand the fundamental human needs and
human rights that must be considered in every plan to prevent violence.
Human Needs, Human Rights, and Violence

Human needs and human rights are totally interrelated. Every human being has
the right for the opportunity to fulfill his/her basic and fundamental needs, and
when this process is interfered with, the likelihood of conflict and possibility of
violence increases dramatically. In fact, many theories of conflict revolve around
the issue of unfulfilled human needs.
Human needs are developmental in their process and biological, psychosocial,
and spiritual in their nature. There are three basic categories of needs: survival
(first-order), association (second-order), and spiritual (third-order) needs. Of
these, survival needs are the most immediate, association needs the most
compelling, and spiritual needs the most consequential.
Not surprisingly, much of human knowledge, effort, and attention has always
been and still is focused primarily on the issues of survival and security. There is
no doubt that security and survival are primary human needs. However, if
individuals and governments focus solely or primarily on assuring that survival
needs are met, they certainly will fail. Human survival is only possible within
secure environments, which in turn are only possible within unified and peaceful
relationships. Peaceful human relationships, however, are only possible within
the framework of moral, ethical, and spiritual principles, enshrined in religion,
law, philosophy, and cultural norms and values. Within this developmental
formulation, a reasonable level of preoccupation with survival needs is
considered essential. However, the fact that this focus has now reached unhealthy
proportions—expressed in the extreme self-centered individualism and/or
collective coercion in many societies—merits serious attention and
reconsideration in the light of other categories of human needs.
Association needs refer to issues of human relationships such as belonging,
identity, equality, freedom, and justice. Many societies address these needs with

varying degrees of success, and there is still much to be done with respect to these
needs at all levels in every society. The major contemporary schools of thought
concentrate on the twin issues of economic conditions and modes of governance.
Consequently, it is not surprising that the main foci
Essential Human
of current efforts at violence-prevention and peace Needs:
building are safety, security, and economic
• Survival Needs
development, on the one hand, and those of • Association Needs
democracy, justice, human rights, and personal • Spiritual Needs
freedom on the other. These programs, although valuable, basically ignore the
third category of human needs—the need for purpose, meaning, and spiritual
pursuits—or relegate such needs to a subsection of the second category.
Human spiritual needs refer to the need to make sense of life and death, of joy
and sorrow, of love and hatred, of the mundane and the divine, of freedom and
equality, and of wealth and power—all in the context of a meaningful and
transcendent purpose in life. Spiritual needs revolve around the all-
encompassing and ever-abiding issues of truth and truthfulness, love and unity,
and service and universality, in both secular and sacred domains of life. It is
through truthfulness, love, and service that enduring and united human
relationships are formed, the foundations of individual and group security are
firmly established, and the welfare and security of each and all is assured. It is
simply not possible to create secure, just, equal, and free human relationships
without meeting the fundamental human spiritual needs.
In this the second decade of the twenty-first
Essential Human
Rights: century, our world is severely burdened with terrorism
and war, hunger and disease, insecurity and suspicion,
• Survival Rights
• Association Rights religious animosity and racial tensions, excessive
• Spiritual Rights competition and indifference, and extremes of wealth
and poverty. Such a world is incapable of adequately
meeting either survival or association needs of the multitudes. Survival and
association needs can best be met when human spiritual needs are also fulfilled.

And this is only possible within the framework of a unity-based worldview with
unity, along with its animating force—love—at the basis of human relationships.
Such relationships draw their impetus from the dynamics of human love in all its
grandeur, depth, and creativity and from the powerful, beneficial force of unity
with its inclusive and benevolent properties.
Unity and the Causes of Human Violence

Within the framework of the unity paradigm, we can better understand the
developmental, psychosocial, and spiritual causes of violence and how these
insights can be used for its prevention. Developmental causes of violence refer to
the process of maturation of human consciousness both at individual and group
levels. All development takes place on the axis of consciousness. Matter does not
develop. It simply assumes ever more complex organization correspondent to the
expansion of consciousness. Human societies develop along universally
identifiable stages corresponding with infancy, childhood, adolescence,
adulthood, and maturity stages in life of the individual. At every level of
development, certain types of mindset and behavior are predominant. The
direction of maturing of both individuals and societies proceeds from a state of
primitive consciousness and considerable lack of knowledge to a condition of
enlightenment and ever-increasing knowledge; from self-centeredness to
universality; and from instinctual dominance to conscious freedom. These are
variations on the theme of the development of the human powers of knowledge,
love, and will, which were described earlier. In essence, they state that the less
developed our consciousness is, the less capable we are to understand the
dynamics of our behavior, the more prone we are to be selfish and xenophobic,
and the more likely we are to act impulsively and violently when our desires and
expectations are not met. In other words, there is a direct relationship between
the process of maturation of human consciousness and the occurrence of both
conflict and violence.

Maturation is a conscious, willful process based on accumulated life

experiences and expanded, deepened insights. As such, maturation takes place in
the realm of consciousness within the parameters of knowledge, love, and will. As
our intellectual capacities mature, we not only learn and discover new facts about
the laws of nature but also develop more insight and wisdom on how to apply the
new knowledge and how to approach the laws of nature. Likewise, the human
emotional experiences, which at the earlier stages of life are primarily focused on
our personal needs, desires, and interests, gradually, in the course of life and in
the light of greater understanding and wisdom, become the foundations for a
transcendent and universal love.
The maturation of human will also has dramatic results. An immature and
undisciplined will is devoid of freedom. It is at the mercy of biological,
sociological, and environmental forces. It uses all its powers to adapt or to attack
in order to survive. However, once the human will is disciplined through life
experience, is strengthened through acquisition of insight, is civilized through
applying the principles of compassion and love, and is enlightened through
adoption of universal ethics and spiritual principles, it becomes the agent of true
freedom. Thus, the forced, harsh willfulness of conflict and violence gives way to
free, benevolent acts of reconciliation and harmony. True freedom is the outcome
of an enlightened, universal, and unifying will. It is the very opposite of what is
construed to be freedom in our current adolescent paradigm. It is this latter type
of freedom that is inevitably conflict-ridden and violence-prone. The challenge
before us is to move beyond our present state of collective adolescence through a
scientifically informed and spiritually evolving consciousness.
The psychosocial causes of conflict and violence are
Causes of Human
closely related to their developmental causes, especially Violence:
with regard to the type of conflict and violence we • Developmental
• Psychosocial
witness in our world today. Current worldwide political • Spiritual
and economic systems are highly competitive,
individualistic, and materialistic in orientation and take place within the

framework of conflict-based worldviews that promote doctrines of self-

centeredness and the survival of the fittest. Conflict and its offspring—violence—
emerging in this context are among the main characteristics of an adolescent
psychological state that sees life to be a continuous process of struggle,
competition, and uncertainty while burdened with feelings of fear, anxiety, and
anger. In these circumstances, interpersonal and group conflicts are common.
And when life challenges become extreme and when unifying, supportive, and
inclusive worldviews do not inform the society, episodes of individual and group
violence become alarmingly common.
However, as we begin as individuals and societies to replace the competitive,
aggressive, individualistic, and self-centered qualities of the adolescent
move beyond its collective adolescence.

No human society has ever been able to
age with those of cooperation, tenderness, universality, and generosity
of spirit, we accelerate the process of our growth towards maturity. This
process dramatically decreases conditions that create violence and allow
it to take root. This transition is a most dramatic transition. In the
psychosocial sense, no human society has ever been able to move
beyond its collective adolescence. Now we are witnessing almost the
whole world of humanity in its adolescent phase. This is a new
phenomenon in the history of humanity. It is the period of the coming
of age of humanity—that unique, dramatic, and unparalleled period of
transition and change. Everything is undergoing major transformation.
Our ideas and modes of behavior; social and political organizations; arts
and sciences; and moral, ethical, and spiritual standards and beliefs—all
are undergoing profound change. No individual or society is exempt. All are
involved.
Such a fundamental change has both a destructive and a constructive process.
The destructive process refers to the inevitable necessity of discarding the
previous ways of thought and behavior and the institutions that were created to
serve them. This process is unavoidable. It is that chaos which comes before a
new order is established. In the midst of this chaos, much insecurity develops,

and if we are not careful, it could accelerate out of control and cause an
unimaginable degree of violence. There are many examples of this dimension of
change in human history. The process of abolition of slavery in the United States,
the end of colonial rule in Africa, the disintegration of the former USSR, and the
devastating transition of Western Europe from a group of warring nations to the
European Union, all had fiercely violent periods of change and dismantling or
dramatic alteration of their respective institutions. Likewise, at the height of the
Cold War when the threat of a nuclear confrontation between the superpowers
was considerable, the fierce demand on the part of the citizens of the world
resulted in a fundamental change in the attitudes of the main two superpowers
and their policies towards accumulation of atomic arsenals. Fortunately, that
situation has been somewhat ameliorated. However, the danger of a universal
condition of violence is still unacceptably high. This is so not only because there
always is a danger of the use of atomic warheads by some misguided groups but
also because there appears to be no viable solution to the emergence of new foci
of conflict and the rising tides of violence and barbarism around the world. It is in
this respect that the spiritual causes of violence assume their importance.
Every beneficial change, even though somewhat chaotic, is followed by a
constructive phase. And our chaotic adolescent humanity is now poised to enter
the next stage—constructive phase of development—in its ongoing evolution
towards higher levels of integration, cooperation, and unity in the context of
diversity. The constructive process is fundamentally a spiritual process. It refers
to the gradual, but inevitable, emergence of the consciousness of the fundamental
oneness of humanity, the awareness that we are all participants and beneficiaries
of the integrated web of life, involving all human beings and all living entities.
Spiritual roots of violence have their genesis in our respective worldviews,
which provide the frameworks within which our thoughts, feelings, and actions
develop and are given legitimacy and relevance. When we lack a consciously
formulated effective worldview and life framework, we become insecure,
confused, agitated, frightened, and highly vulnerable. It is a state similar to that

of being lost in a dense, dark, and wild jungle, or in a violent, foreign, and
uncaring environment. Under these conditions we feel very threatened, and our
proclivity to respond to difficult circumstances with violence is greatly increased.
These dynamics are most clearly observed during childhood and adolescence.
Children and youth have a profound need for a clear framework, an unambiguous
and reasonable list of acceptable and unacceptable forms of behavior, consistent
and inspiring models and heroes, ethical and mature mentors, and ongoing
enlightened guidance as they face the challenges and opportunities of life.
One of the tragedies of our time is that most children of the world are reared
either without an adequate framework for life or with limited, conflict-based
perspectives and guidelines about human nature and the purpose of life. In our
world today we can identify distinctive and widely adhered to life philosophies
that are fundamentally conflict-based. One obvious example is the competitive,
individualistic, pleasure-based and conflicted framework of materialistic
capitalism offered millions of children in the more prosperous societies of the
North. Another devastating example is the harsh, suspicious, amoral, and
materialistic conditions under which generations of children who were and still
are reared in societies influenced by the Marxist doctrines. Still a third example
involves millions of children educated according to the manifestly flawed and
extremely dangerous religious fundamentalist doctrines as found in many parts
of the world and in most religions and ideologies. And finally are the millions of
children deprived of true education in societies of the South burdened with
extreme levels of poverty, disease, violence, prejudice, and oppression. This list is
by no means exhaustive. However, it not only demonstrates the extent of the
problem but also clearly identifies the undeniable link that exists between these
approaches to childrearing and the prevalence of conflict and violence in those
societies in which these perspectives and conditions are pervasive.
Historically, the primary sources of blueprints for life have always been the
major religions of the world such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam, and some of the most influential moral and philosophical teachings,

such as those of some outstanding Greek philosophers and Confucius and other
remarkable Chinese philosophers. By far, the majority of present and past
civilizations are based on the teachings of the major existing religions. Even when
the documented source of some civilizations lies in philosophy rather than
religion, the fundamental perspectives of those philosophies are similar to the
essential moral and ethical teachings of these world religions. It is, therefore, not
surprising that as religions lost their original spiritual authenticity and potency,
modern humanity began to reject religion and replace it with human-made
ideologies and scientific and pseudoscientific theories and doctrines. So, we at
the start of the twenty-first century find ourselves in a world operating according
to three predominant worldviews. The first worldview—scientific materialism—
considers the source, the process, and the purpose of life exclusively in the
material world, operating according to the principles of struggle and survival. The
second worldview—religious fundamentalism—considers life in the narrow,
exclusive confines of particular religious doctrines and restrictive, unfounded
ideologies based on the notion of superiority of some over others. And there is a
third category of worldview along an ideological continuum with inclusive and
rational humanism at its positive pole and exclusive, irrational, and often
destruction ideologies at the opposite pole. All these worldviews are attempts on
the part of an adolescent humanity to reestablish a sense of self and identity lost
in the course of its understandable attempts to free itself from the shackles of
authoritarian religious and political practices. However, the same groups who
freed themselves from the yoke of authoritarianism misapplied their newly
achieved freedom and ushered in the twentieth century—one of the most violent
periods in human history.
At this juncture in human history, it behooves us to revisit our understanding
of the nature of religion and its role of religion in human individual and collective
life. The primary task of religion is to provide a framework for life within which
the purposeful and creative nature of reality is elucidated, the nobility of human
nature is nurtured, the integrative and unifying purpose of life is given an

opportunity to effloresce, and the laws governing human relationships are

formulated on the principle of unity in diversity. It is within the context of
religion—in its pure, true, progressive, inclusive, and universal sense—that life
becomes a meaningful, creative, unifying, and lawful process. Religion in its
authentic state, gives us the opportunity to establish our identities as noble,
universal, and unconditionally loving and truth-seeking individuals and
communities. It is through enlightened application of the spiritual principles of
religion that we can free ourselves from superstition, prejudice, hatred, mistrust,
and arrogance. And it is through the instrumentality of authentic and progressive
religion that we can muster the necessary insight, sensitivity, and motivation to
create equality, justice, unity, and peace in our world. And authentic, progressive
religion in its very core is in full harmony with the established scientific
principles.
The inability or refusal of leaders of major religions to acknowledge the
fundamental unity of all revealed religions with regard to their source, objectives,
and spiritual principles has created a major vacuum in the spiritual life of
contemporary humanity. To fill this vacuum, materialism has become the
dominant “religion” of our times. However, materialistic ideologies are
essentially restrictive and exclusive in orientation and are deeply flawed. They are
bankrupt ideologies, and their pernicious impacts on human lives are being
increasingly demonstrated in the conflicts and violence that characterize the
contemporary world. It is in this light that the new surging interest in spiritual
matters assumes its significance. The ever-increasing call for a spiritual
renaissance is indeed the clarion call of this age.
Because violence has developmental, psychosocial, and spiritual causes, any
effective program for its prevention requires consideration of all three factors. Of
these three, the psychosocial factors have received the greatest attention and
enjoy the most acceptance. The developmental factors are also accepted, as this
concept is better understood and its validity is confirmed through observation
and research. However, the greatest stumbling block is with respect to the

spiritual causes of violence. This skepticism is completely justified. Acceptance of

the spiritual causes of violence is very difficult because religion and spirituality
are interrelated. Every revealed religion in its pure authentic state is the
embodiment of spirituality. However, when religion is perceived and practiced
within the framework of conflicted worldviews—survival-based and identity-
based—it becomes disengaged from its own spirit, loses its spirituality, and
becomes incapable of adequately meeting the ever-changing needs of its
members and communities. These conditions are fertile grounds for
a potent source of contention and violence.
When religion looses its spirituality, it becomes
development of rigidity, superstition, prejudice, and hatred. When

religion looses its spirituality, it becomes a potent source of
contention and violence.
However, the essential need for spirituality in human life cannot
be ignored. The spiritually starved generations of young people now
in our midst are already displaying signs of profound disorders in
the context of the absence of universal, uplifting, and ennobling
worldviews. Among these signs are a startling degree of ignorance
and confusion about the nature and purpose of human life, a
shocking absence of inner discipline, an increasing disregard for
order and legitimate authority, an alarming state of self-
centeredness, and a readiness to go to extremes to get what they
want and desire. These conditions inevitably result in conflict and
violence against self and others. It may be that a new and very
destructive age of barbarism is upon us. The twenty-first century
may become even more violent than the twentieth century. This is a possibility
unless we muster the will to adopt an integrated, wholesome way of life:
developmentally progressive, psychologically mature, socially just, scientifically
sound, environmentally responsible, and spiritually enlightened and universal.
Simply put, the yardstick of spirituality is unity. To the extent that we can discern
the presence and implement the principles of unity in all aspects of life—between
peoples and races, between religions, between science and religion, between men

and women, and between humans and nature—to that same extent we attain
spirituality. It is only within the parameters of the unity-based worldview that we
will be able to begin to create a violence-free world.
Prevention of Violence
Violence is the destructive outcome of a disunited life process. There are basically
two processes operative in every life: challenges and opportunities. Life
challenges are those processes that constantly draw upon our capacities and
potentialities to meet the demands of everyday life. The most obvious of these
challenges is the challenge of survival. In fact, many accomplishments of
humanity such as agriculture and food production, engineering and shelter-
building, medicine and health promotion, governance and the establishment of
economic and political systems, and many other human scientific, technological,
and social inventions and practices are expressions of the efforts of humankind to
survive and live a good life.
When we are faced with a challenge, our powers of knowledge, love, and will
are immediately called into action. In the face of a challenge we immediately try
to understand its nature and to search for a solution. If the challenge is
considerable, we become tense and apprehensive. The combined forces of
apprehension and tension call upon our powers of will and motivate us to find
realistic, objective solutions to the challenge before us. (Figure 2)
Apprehension Comprehension
Motivation
Challenge Solution
Motivation
Tension Creative Action
Figure 2. Healthy response to life challenges
However, life challenges are not always easy to face. In fact, there are
challenges in life that are very difficult to handle, even by the most capable

individuals. Also, not all people have the same capacity to face the demands and
hurdles of life, nor are able to find practical, meaningful ways to handle those
demands or have equal opportunities to do so. Due to these factors, not
infrequently, the challenges of life are perceived as threats. Once we are
threatened, our thoughts, feelings, and actions change dramatically. When
threatened, our apprehension is replaced with fear, even phobia (extreme and
unfounded fear); our tension accelerates into feelings of anger, even rage; and
our motivation is turned into anxiety, even panic. Under these circumstances,
people usually become either withdrawn and apathetic or aggressive and violent,
often both in turn. This unhealthy response to life challenges plays a major role in
the development of violence, and to the degree that it is prevented to that same
degree the occurrence of violence is decreased. (Fig. 3)
Fear (phobia) Flight

Anxiety (panic)
Threats Violence
Anxiety (panic)
Anger (rage) Fight
Figure 3. Unhealthy response to life threats
Life opportunities are the second dimension of the life process. As

individuals and groups, we all have, to a lesser or greater degree, various
opportunities to shape our lives. Some of us are blessed with untold opportunities
and are unable to take advantage of them. Conversely, there are many individuals
who against all odds and in the face of enormous deprivations turn their difficult
challenges into opportunities. There are two broad categories of life
opportunities: growth and creativity.
Growth is both a sign of life and a requirement for life. In other words, every
living organism is subject to the laws of growth and cannot survive if it ceases to
grow. In human beings, growth includes not only our biological dimension but
also the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being. When we have

the opportunity to develop our body, mind, and emotions to an optimal level and
to give a morally and spiritually enlightened direction to our powers of
knowledge, love, and will, we then become wholesome, universal beings. We feel
at home in the world. We realize that we belong to the world and the world
belongs to us. Consequently, we become much more sensitive to the needs and
aspirations of others. We develop a deep sense of respect for all that exists. We
see a coherence, interdependence, and unity in all that there is. We become lovers
of humanity; promoters of truth and justice; unifiers in the arena of interpersonal
and international relationships; defenders of the rights of the weak, the poor, and
those in need; conscientious protectors of our environment; and agents of peace
creation and beautification of our world.
These accomplishments, however, are only possible when our healthy and
wholesome development takes place in the context of the other main opportunity
of life—creativity. Creativity, here, refers to two issues. First, all human beings are
the same with respect to the fundamental aspects of their humanness. Second,
every human being is unique with respect to the manner in which his/her
humanness is expressed. While all human beings need to grow physically,
intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, the manner in which this growth takes
place is unique for each of us. It is here that the opportunity for creativity is
expressed. We human beings are creators at the core of our being. Everything
that is human-made is the result of the human creative capacity. Our sciences
and arts, our technologies and crafts, our languages and cultures, our ideas and
concepts are all the outcomes of human creative powers and integrative strivings.
The twin opportunities for growth and creativity are enhanced in an
environment characterized by love, encouragement, and a universal, inclusive
worldview. Under these circumstances, we mature and have a deep sense of
fulfillment with respect to our life and its development. Fulfillment here refers to
the fact that every life has to have a result. A fruitless life is a wasted life. We can
compare human life to the life of a fruit tree. In the course of the tree’s lifetime
are three distinct stages: development, blossoming, and fruition. Likewise, in the

life of a human being, there are three stages. During the first stage (the first two
to three decades of life), the individual develops along biological, intellectual,
emotional, moral, ethical, and spiritual parameters. Thus, the young individual
becomes physically stronger and more skilled. The healthy intellectual
development of the person results in a well-developed mind and love of learning.
Emotionally, as children and youth grow in a healthy environment, they learn to
discipline themselves and become less self-centered and more reciprocal. These
attributes are all needed for the development of a healthy, positive sense of self.
Finally, when children and youth have the benefit of an enlightened and universal
moral, ethical, and spiritual education, they develop to be peaceful, creative, and
happy beings. The first stage of life is the time of taking root and building a
strong foundation (roots, trunk, and branches of the tree) by developing
intellectual, emotional, and spiritual strengths and capacities. An individual with
strong roots and a powerful trunk is more able to weather the storms of life
(challenges and threats) and to branch out fully. The second stage is the time of
blossoming. This stage corresponds with the middle decades of life in which we
establish ourselves in our jobs, families, and communities. During this period we
excel in many ways; accomplish much; and become successful, productive, and
courageous. This is the time that we ‘look our best’. In the same way that a tree in
full blossom invites the whole world to behold its beauty, we also, during those
decades of our blossoming, want to be seen, admired, and respected.
Eventually, every fruit life has to bear fruit. The most remarkable
characteristic of the fruit is that its main benefits are not to sustain the life of the
tree, but rather to contribute to the life of others and to create a new life.
Likewise, in the third stage of our life, we have to be able to offer nourishing and
delicious fruits of our life to others. A truly mature and creative life is a life of
fulfillment of both our own capacities and potentialities and also fulfillment of
the needs and aspirations of others. It should be noted that although the stages of
development, blossoming, and fruition are successive in the life of the tree, they
are co-present in varying degrees in human life. In other words, we as human

beings are always developing, blossoming, and giving the fruits of our existence
to others. However, at different stages of our life one or another of these
processes is more prominent and time-specific. Figure 4 depicts this process.
Growth Maturity
Love & Encouragement, Universal Worldview
Opportunit (Purposefulness Wholeness

ies ) Love & Encouragement, Universal Worldview
Creativity Fulfillment
Figure 4. Healthy response to life opportunities
Unfortunately, not all human beings are afforded the necessary conditions to
respond to the opportunities of life in a healthy, positive manner. Many people
are victims of circumstances beyond their control and have limited opportunities
for growth and creativity. Others are reared in families and communities that do
not encourage, and may even discourage, such fundamental issues as intellectual,
emotional, and spiritual development. These individuals and groups fear new
ideas and approaches to life. They tend to live in conditions closed to the world.
When people have closed minds, hearts, and homes, they deprive themselves of
the creative relationships that are essential for their own wholesome
development. In these circumstances, opportunities for growth and creativity
become limited. Here, criticism and faultfinding replace encouragement, love is
conditional and indulgent, and a spiritual framework—essential for healthy
development—is either totally absent or else mixed with such irrational, limited,
and prejudicial concepts that more harm than good is done.
Children reared under these circumstances and adults living such lives are
often unaware of the need for their own growth and creativity. They tend to live
limited and boring lives. They are easily threatened by the challenges of life and
often become violent when their wishes and desires are frustrated. These
individuals may be highly educated in certain respects, very successful in
acquiring wealth and power, and in manipulating to achieve their objectives.

However, invariably these individuals are anxiety-ridden, fearful, angry, and

conflicted. Their lives are devoid of meaning and purpose beyond the immediate
benefits for themselves and their constricted worlds. They suffer a state of
anomie, and are alienated from themselves, the world, and life itself. (Figure 5)
Stunted Growth Immaturity

Indulgence & Discouragement
Disadvantages (Missed Opportunities) Anomie
Indulgence & Discouragement

Purposelessness Boredom
Figure 5. Violence-prone response to life disadvantages (missed opportunities)
This description of healthy and unhealthy responses to life processes clearly

demonstrates that there are both creative and destructive lifestyles, which
individuals and societies develop and maintain, thus creating either united and
peaceful or conflicted and violent conditions. This analysis also provides an
explanation why not all individuals reared in disadvantageous circumstances
become violent and why many individuals reared under privileged conditions
with many opportunities nevertheless become highly conflicted, violent, and
destructive. The main reason for these outcomes is that the human individual is
an active creative agent in the arena of life with the capacity to choose.
Ultimately, all human activities are in response to human thoughts, feelings,
principles, needs, aspirations, and decisions.
Study of life challenges and opportunities give us some essential insights into
the root causes of human violence and point to the fact that to prevent violence
we need the foresight to put into motion a long-term plan of action, courage to
pursue the program in the face of political and special-interest groups’ pressure,
and wisdom not to abandon the plan when it inevitably meets with some failures
and roadblocks. Even when we put into motion all these programs our efforts at
prevention of violence will not succeed unless we consider one other fundamental
but perplexing issue with respect to violence: the nature of violence itself. Does

violence have a reality of its own, or is it the outcome of absence of some other
conditions?
Violence and its Antithesis

Our behavior is shaped by the quality and level of our capacity to approach the
twin life-processes of challenges and opportunities. To the degree that we are
able to meet life challenges in a healthy, mature manner and transform them into
opportunities for further growth and creativity, to that same degree, our lives
become peaceful and free from violence. Because our ability to face life’s
challenges and take advantage of its opportunities is directly related to the level
of our development as individuals and societies, it then follows that as we develop
and mature, both the frequency and intensity of violent behavior will decrease.
Development, both individual and collective, takes place in the context of
expansion of human consciousness on the twin pillars of scientific knowledge and
spiritual insight. Human consciousness evolves as we learn more about laws of
nature and life and as we accumulate greater understanding of ourselves through
our experiences, relationships, and reflection and contemplation. The main two
sources of insight for humanity are science and religion, and human
consciousness cannot fully develop in the absence of either. Science and religion
are two distinct but complementary avenues of search, knowledge, and
understanding. Both point to the fundamental fact that reality is one and that the
expression of oneness in the world of nature and human life is unity. Unity is the
antithesis of violence. Violence does not have an independent
Conflict is the
reality of its own and is in fact an indication of the absence of absence of
unity.
unity, which is essential for a creative, nonviolent, peaceful
life.
The story of humanity’s disunity is also that of its unity. In its march toward
maturity, humanity has achieved many remarkable acts of unity, such as the
successive creation of collective relationships in the context of family, clan, tribe,
state, and nationhood. These are ever-widening circles of unity. Humanity has

also achieved limited, but significant, unities with respect to issues of religion,
race, and culture. In recent decades, we also have achieved considerable unity of
thought about the undeniable, but grievously ignored, fact that women are equal
to men and that peace and tranquility cannot be achieved if women continue to
be denied their rightful equal place in the administration of human affairs. There
are other examples of unity in human history, but they are all limited unities and,
as such, have limited results. They may even cause serious disunity. For example,
racial unity becomes a negative condition if it excludes or abuses the members of
other racial groups. The same principle holds true for religious or political
unities.
The primary requisite for a permanent and stable unity is consciousness of the
oneness of humanity. Humanity is one and always has been one. However, our
consciousness of our oneness has been greatly limited due to the self-centered
and identity-based preoccupations of earlier stages of our collective development.
It is only after traversing our collective stages of childhood and adolescence that
we gradually begin to see humanity as one and ourselves as an integral part of
this oneness.
The developmental perspective of the unity paradigm removes one of the
most difficult obstacles for the achievement of unity: the strongly held view that
unity is neither possible nor desirable. In fact, the concept of unity—that at the
very core of our humanity we are one and the same—is being increasingly
embraced by many individuals and societies. We humans are all potentially noble
beings with the capacity to love, to understand, and to create. However, the
manner in which we develop and express these potentialities is unique to each
individual and group. This uniqueness is at the core of the issue of diversity.
Diversity is neither sameness nor preference, but uniqueness in the context of our
fundamental unity. For example, we all desire to love and to be loved, and wish to
know and be known. In this sense all humanity yearns for the same things, but as
individuals, we follow our quest in a manner unique to each of us. This diversity

is at the core of beauty, creativity, and the richness of both individuals and
societies.
The politics of power, domination, and winning at all costs are characteristics
of earlier stages of development and are marked by conditions of sameness,
conformity, and power-struggle, which often result in injustice, oppression,
inequality, and disunity. These processes belong to the past. As humanity comes
of age, the struggle for power, domination, and excessive competition will of
necessity give way to the forces of mutual strength, equality, and cooperation. All
accomplishments of humanity are due to the ability of human beings to cooperate
and create, not to contend and destroy. It is this aspect of human history that
gives us cause to be optimistic and to state with a degree of certitude that the age
of oneness and unity is at hand. However, to establish unity we need more than
awareness, enthusiasm, and motivation. We also need know-how. Clearly, to
create a new level of unity requires fresh approaches to the resolution of human
conflicts—approaches that not only oppose but also transcend violence and in
doing so conquer it. This is only possible if unity is created.
Response to Violence
To better understand how to prevent violence it will be helpful to review the ways
that individual and group respond to violence. Here are the most common
responses:
Ignoring Violence: This is a very common response, especially when violence
does not touch us directly. An example of this is the generally indifferent
response of people towards news of violence in other parts of the world,
especially if those affected are of a different race, nationality, religion, or
background. Such a response indicates our inability or refusal to accept the
reality of the oneness of humanity and the fact that violence against one is
violence against all.
Rationalization of Violence: A second common response to violence is to
rationalize its occurrence, an approach particularly prevalent in the biological,

psychological, and sociological theories of aggression and violence. In these

disciplines, most violent acts are understood to be natural, understandable, and
even acceptable responses to certain psychological, social, and economic stresses
and/or specific biological imperatives or anomalies. However, these theories and
explanations do not offer a plan for the eradication of war and violence and, at
best, suggest coping techniques and deterrents.
Individualization of Violence: The third frequent and seemingly innocuous
response to violence is to attribute all acts of violence to one or a few individuals
who commit the violent act, thus removing collective social responsibility from
such events. In doing so, the larger community absolves itself of any
responsibility with respect to the acts of violence committed by its members and
considers the problem of violence solved once the perpetrator(s) of violence is
identified and punished. We see examples of such an approach to violence
particularly, but not exclusively, in North America, Western Europe, and other
nations and societies where individualism is either well established or is
beginning to take root. Such an approach to violence has devastating long-term
effects, because, through its unwillingness to accept responsibility, society
indirectly sanctions acts of violence and contributes to the creation of a culture of
violence.
Violence to Counter Violence: The fourth and by far Responses to
most devastating response to violence is more violence. Violence:
• Ignoring Violence
In our world today, responding to violence with a • Rationalization of
greater degree of violence is still considered the main Violence
• Individualization of
solution to the problem, despite all indications Violence
pointing to the futility of such an approach. The • Countering Violence
with Violence
proponents of such a reaction obviously ignore the
• Nonviolence
clear fact that one cannot remedy a disease by Approach
prescribing more of the pathogen causing it. In fact, • Transcending
Violence
gradual exposure to violence desensitizes us to its
noxious impacts, and consequently we, both as individuals and societies, become

insensitive to ever-higher levels of violence. This process is a major contributor to

the development of a culture of violence, in which violence is seen both as a
natural and acceptable behavior.
A troubling example of the immunization to violence resulting from
countering violence with violence is the “Force with Force” legislation in the State
of Florida in 2005 and subsequent campaign to enact similar legislation in other
American States.13 These and other solutions proposed by experts on human
violence, including the creation of a balance of power and a politics of deterrence,
are pathetically inadequate when compared with the intensity and extent of
human violence. Mindless violence committed in homes, schools, and
communities; wars waged by humankind; atrocities committed in concentration
camps and prisons; brutalities inflicted in political, ideological, and religious
interrogation and indoctrination centers; the cold-blooded maiming and murder
of multitudes by modern instruments of death such as the bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the napalm poured on people in more recent wars, land
mines implanted in numerous inhabited regions of the world; and the barbaric
terrorist acts with their indiscriminate targets cannot be stopped by these
conceptually misguided and tactically inadequate solutions. We need a radically
different approach to the solution of human violence. Our minds and hearts have
to change, and our understanding of both human nature and human violence has
to alter drastically. As Martin Luther King, Jr. observed:
“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral;
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil,
it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you
cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you
may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence
merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence
multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of
stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate
cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”14

Nonviolence Approach to Violence: Apart from these most common responses to

violence—ignoring, rationalizing, personalizing, and combating violence with
violence—we have a few examples of a radically different and effective approach
in the form of the nonviolence movement. Notable examples are the work of
Mahatma Gandhi in India, Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and Martin Luther
King, Jr. in the United States. Less well known is the example of Ferenc Deak, a
Catholic landowner in Hungary who in the mid-nineteenth century peacefully
mobilized the Hungarian people against the immense powers of Emperor Franz
Josef of Austria. Other notable examples are the nonviolent courageous stand of
the King of Denmark against the Nazi invaders, and the dramatic nonviolent
stand of Norwegian teachers against the horrendous brutality perpetrated against
them by the Nazi soldiers.15 All these examples point to the effective results of the
nonviolence movement.
There is ample evidence that methods of nonviolence have been successful
both at the individual and collective levels, and that the main advantages of the
nonviolent approach are its moral and psychological powers. The nonviolent
individual, when facing violence, responds unexpectedly by being peaceful rather
than vengeful. He/she creates surprise and doubt in the attacker(s), attracts the
attention of other people, arouses deep feelings of empathy and sympathy,
especially when suffering and sacrifice are involved, and, above all, addresses
himself/herself to the fundamental humanity and goodness of all people,
including both the oppressors and their victims. Such a nonviolent movement
creates conditions that render aggression, force, and violence impotent and, not
infrequently, cause the attacker(s) to capitulate and accept defeat.
However, the long-term effectiveness of the nonviolence movement has, at
best, been marginal. The current level of violence between Hindus and Muslims
in India, the continuing racial tension and separateness in the United States, and
the enduring conditions of disadvantage for the masses of black population in
South Africa are examples of the very effective but short-term effects of the

nonviolent movement. There are several reasons for this. To begin with, unity is
an essential condition for the success of nonviolence, and historically the few
main figures of nonviolence movements were themselves powerful points of unity
for their cause. However, as soon as these individuals were removed from the
scene (in case of both Gandhi and King by assassination), the effectiveness of
their movements was dramatically decreased, primarily because the movement
lost its point of unity.
Another very important reason for the short-lived effectiveness of nonviolent
resistance is that nonviolence does not have an independent (from violence) force
of its own and, consequently, cannot be effective on an ongoing basis. In essence,
nonviolence needs violence in order to have any influence on human society.
However, a violent world, even where nonviolent resistance is victorious, is not
synonymous with a peaceful, creative world where violence is an aberration.
When compared with the alternatives of ignoring violence, countering it with
further violence, rationalizing it away, reducing it to aberrant individual acts, or
meeting violence with violence, the concept of nonviolence emerges as the most
viable option. It will be a great accomplishment if we could develop an integrative
approach to violence that incorporate the main elements of the nonviolent
philosophy.
Transcending Violence: Transcending violence refers to the process of gaining
victory over violence, decreasing and gradually preventing its occurrence, and
eventually establishing a civilization of peace in which violence is an aberration,
not the rule. To achieve this, we need to have an integrative theory of violence, a
comprehensive approach to its prevention, and effective strategies to deal with
existing violence. These three things are, of course, possible if we also have a
comprehensive theory of peace and how to establish it. In this essay my main
focus has been on the formulation of an integrative theory of violence. In this
closing section I will make a brief reference to the issue of peace creation as a
most assured approach to violence prevention.16

IV
EDUCATING FOR PEACE: VIOLENCE DISARMED
The idea of countering violence with its opposite is based on the concept that
violence is actually a symptom of a more serious underlying disease—disunity.
We need to eradicate the underlying disease of disunity in order to free ourselves
from violence, and this is only possible through the creation of conditions of unity
and peace in human relationships and global society.
The challenge of perceiving violence as the absence of unity is enormous. It
calls for a dramatic change in our worldviews, our concepts of good and evil, our
view of friends and enemies, our understanding of self and other(s), and our
understanding of the nature of peace. If violence is indeed a symptom and not the
disease itself, then it is not surprising that most attempts aimed at controlling
and preventing violence per se tend to fail.
There is a parallel between violence and illness. If illness is defined as absence
of health, then our efforts will be primarily focused on the promotion of health
and well-being through appropriate nutrition, an optimal level of activity,
purification of the environment from various harmful organisms and chemicals
that weaken or destroy our immune system, the avoidance of tobacco and other
addictive and noxious substances, and finally, the adoption of a lifestyle that is
moderate, purposeful, joyous, and free from undue stress. These factors are all
health promoting and disease preventing in nature. They are economical,
pleasant, and not destructive. However, because we have poor nutrition and
immoderate levels of activity, continue to pollute our environment, and live
immoderate and highly stressed lives, we have become burdened with serious
acute and chronic diseases. Furthermore, in our attempts to deal with the
consequences of these conditions, we have created an expensive and highly
complex medical industry that is becoming increasingly inadequate. Ultimately, a
change in our perspective on disease and health will help to put our energies into

the promotion of health and the prevention of disease, which are dramatically
more effective and less costly.
A similar approach to prevention of violence through creation of peace is
needed. We currently suffer the consequences of individual and collective
disunity-based lifestyles that cause distrust, self-centeredness, inequality,
injustice, separation, and estrangement. Such conditions are fertile grounds for
the development of violence. If we are to create peaceful societies, we must
realize above all that our societies have to be not only free from violence but also
endowed with the life-engendering and creative forces of unity. Unity is a state of
harmony, sensitivity, and understanding based on the fundamental reality of the
oneness of humanity. Therefore, in our highly conflicted world, the most
important step we can take is to simultaneously focus on two interrelated tasks:
• Creation of a culture of healing to address the deep-rooted, long-
lasting impact of violence on human individuals and communities;17
and
• Creation of a culture of peace to ensure that violence is prevented,
justice is created, and peace is established.
The prerequisite for both these states is an all-inclusive environment of unity
with its qualities of truthfulness, trust, acceptance, respect, kindness, love,
fairness, equality, encouragement, cooperation, compassion, and mutual
aspirations—all in the context of diversity. These are among the main elements of
both a culture of peace and a culture of healing. Both cultures are inclusive, not
dichotomous; organic, not imposed; commonsense, not superstitious; evolving,
not stagnant—qualities that are aspects of the phenomenon of unity and
necessary for prevention of violence. Clearly, this is an ambitious long-term goal,
and the primary medium for its accomplishment is a comprehensive program of
education within the framework of the principles of peace.
It is neither sufficient nor judicious to wait for violence to occur in order to
respond with an active display of concern, soul-searching, and care. Rather, we
must aim at creating new societies and a new all-involving order in which the

forces of love and unity are operative as a norm rather than an exception.
Harnessing the forces of love and unity to nullify those of conflict and violence
requires not only a fundamental change in mindset and behavior at the
individual level but also a restructuring of the institutions of society with the
ultimate aim of creating a civilization of peace.
The fundamental prerequisite for peace is unity, which, in turn, is dependent
upon justice. It is impossible to create a truly united society in the absence of
justice. However, justice itself requires that equality of rights and opportunities
be established in the society. Equality is a social phenomenon that requires a
high level of individual and collective maturity and universality. Those
individuals and societies still struggling with the forces of identity formation and
competitive self-affirmation are, by definition, unable and/or unwilling to
consider others to be their true equals. That is why the issues of equality, justice,
and unity have eluded humanity in its developmental phases of collective
childhood and adolescence. Maturity, in its most creative form, is expressed in
the ability of the individual and society alike to harness the forces of unity in
highly diverse and multifarious contexts. This chain of prerequisites
maturity → equality → justice → unity → peace → higher level of maturity →
has an organic, developmental quality. Focus on any of these issues inevitably
requires attention to all other issues involved. Each component part reflects the
whole, and the whole integrates all component parts.
As they now exist, the social and political structures of the world are
pedagogy of civilization.
Education for peace is the
at best able to deal, somewhat successfully, with issues of injustice,

inequality, disunity, and war; and at worst they cause them. To change
this discouraging situation and to make equality, justice, unity, and
peace the operating principles of our individual and collective lives, we
need new generations of citizens and leaders, both women and men,
who think and operate within the parameters of unity-based worldviews.
Education, both formal and informal, is the main instrument for the
accomplishment of this task. It is through education that every new

generation is prepared to take up the mantle of citizenship and leadership with

the aim of improving the conditions of life for the whole society. Because of the
central role that education plays in the advancement of civilization and because
civilization, by definition, is antithetical to violence, it then follows that peace-
based education is one of the most potent instruments for the creation of a
civilization of peace. As such, education for peace is the pedagogy of civilization.
Educating for a Civilization of Peace

Peace and education are inseparable aspects of civilization. No civilization is truly
progressive without education, and no education system is truly civilizing unless
it is based on the universal principles of peace. In reviewing school textbooks and
the theories upon which their contents are based, we find that these books are
predominantly written from the perspective that conflict and violence are
inevitable, even necessary, aspects of human individual and social life. Thus these
texts inadvertently or deliberately promote a culture of conflict and violence.18
Consequently, every new generation of children and youth are taught the ways of
‘otherness’ and conflict by their parents, teachers, and community leaders.
Seldom do we encounter a systematic educational program that teaches children
and youth the universal principles of peace that humanity is one, that the oneness
of humanity is expressed in diversity, and that a truly civilized society is at once
united and diverse, equal and just, free, and peaceful. Such a civilization could
only become a reality when a peace-based education curriculum forms the
framework of all our educational concepts, policies, and practices. The purpose of
education is to nurture the unique human capacities of knowledge, love, and will.
Through peace-based education, we learn to use our knowledge in pursuit of
truth and enlightenment, our love to create unity and celebrate diversity, and our
powers of will to become promoters of justice at societal level and compassion at
interpersonal level. Every conceptual formulation and theory needs to be
validated through experimentation and with this in mind, the Education for
Peace (EFP) Program was introduced into the highly conflicted and violence-

ridden post-war country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here is a summary account

of this experiment.
Education for Peace Program—A Summary

Education for Peace (EFP) is an innovative and integrative whole school program
that creates violence-free and peaceful school environments conducive to
meeting the emotional, social, and intellectual needs of diverse school
populations. Through creating a peaceful school environment characterized by
unity in diversity, EFP harnesses the freeing and healing properties of unity to
meet the manifold needs of increasingly diverse populations in different cultural
settings. EFP engages students, teachers, parents/guardians, and school staff in a
cooperative effort to create a violence-free, peaceful school community.
Inaugurated in 2000, Education for Peace focuses on helping all members of
the school community to become peacemakers by developing inner,
interpersonal, and intergroup peace. This goal is accomplished by emphasis on
the acquisition of unity-based worldviews founded on universal principles of
peace, which form the framework for teaching all subjects of study.
The main objectives of the EFP Program are to create in the participating
schools:
• A Culture of Peace—creating violence-free, bullying-free, harmonious, and
peaceful environments throughout the school community;
• A Culture of Healing—creating an environment conducive to helping all
members of the school community to gradually recover from the negative
effects of conflict and violence that they may have experienced in their
lives; and
• A Culture of Excellence—creating an environment conducive to excellence
in all aspects of the lives of members of the school community: academic,
behavioral, ethical, and relational.
EFP engages all members of the school community in the study and practice of
EFP principles in all classrooms, in school environments, and within the families

of the students. As such, EFP helps to create a situation in which every member
of the school community is immersed in an environment of peace. Whenever EFP
is introduced to a new school community, the basic EFP Curriculum is adapted to
the specific needs and realities of that community. This task is approached with
the full participation and involvement of educators from the host community.
Education for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was a part of the now disintegrated
Yugoslavia and had moderately developed social and economic accomplishments
within the parameters of a communist political and economic system. Marshal
Tito, president of Yugoslavia (1953-1980), established a multi-ethnic,
conformity-driven society within the framework of a somewhat “benign”
totalitarian system. However, soon after his death Yugoslavia entered the process
of its eventual disintegration. In 1992 BiH declared its independence and was
immediately engulfed in an interethnic war that lasted for four long and terrible
years.
The war was barbaric. In the course of four years about 270,000 inhabitants
were killed or went missing, 1,282,000 were displaced and another 1,200,000
became refugees.19 The damage to the country of 4.4 million was staggering. The
war involved the three major BiH ethnic populations: Bosniaks (primarily
Muslim), Croats (primarily Catholic), and Serbs (primarily Orthodox Christians).
It also inflicted much harm to a neglected minority―the Roma.
In 2000, five years after the end of this orgy of human violence and
destruction, the EFP Program was introduced into 3 primary and 3 secondary
schools representing the three ethnic groups.20 Two years later because of its
evident success, EFP was implemented in 112 schools in 65 communities across
BiH. In 2010 program of gradual introduction EFP into all 1,000+ BiH schools,
involving some 70,000 educators, 500,000+ students (K–12), and many
thousands of families was initiated with the active participation of all Pedagogical
Institutes and the Ministries of Education. The ultimate objective is to

incorporate the EFP principles in the education reform program now underway
in BiH. However, the prospects for this ultimate objective remain uncertain
because of our inability to secure new grants to continue the project.
The following account of our early experience in the city of Mostar provides a
good example of both the conditions of BiH at the time of introduction of EFP
into its schools and the impact of the EFP Program on them.
EFP In Mostar
Mostar is the largest city in the Herzegovina region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It
is a very beautiful, culturally rich city that
was named after the famous Stari Most/Old
Bridge (a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
built by the Ottomans in the sixteenth
century. In 1878 Mostar became a part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire and after the First
World War a part of the former Yugoslavia.
Between 1992 and 1993, when Bosnia and
Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia, Mostar came under
attack by the Yugoslav People’s Army and was under siege for 18 months. The city
was bombed and became the scene of horrendous acts of barbarism. Many of its
beautiful and significant architecture buildings and places of worship, including
the extremely beautiful and historic Stari Most, were destroyed or badly
damaged. The scars of the war are still (in 2014) painfully evident.
In January 2003, the Rotary Foundation
(through the Rotarians from Switzerland
and Israel) recognized the special needs of
the divided city of Mostar and provided
funds for the implementation of the EFP-
Intensive Program in two selected secondary
schools. At the end of two semesters of

implementation in June 2003, students, faculty, staff, families, and city leaders
from both schools co-created a Peace Week at which students celebrated and
reflected upon the principles of peace through artistic media. Citizens who, for
nearly ten years had not crossed the “line of confrontation” that has divided
Mostar since the war, courageously moved from one side of the city to the other.
For many, this was an historic event that added momentum to the much-needed
process of healing in this city. The report on the peace week prepared by the
Rotary representative concluded with the following observations:
One particular performance which stood out was a piece about “Worldview.” The
students had made paper mache globes of varying sizes, from small to large. They
divided the sketch into three parts to convey the idea that the humanity is
collectively growing from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. The sketch
depicted each stage of growth through everyday examples and ended in a “Song
for Peace” that had the entire audience clapping and enthusiastic. Another
performance was called “Taxi” which was the story of a taxi driver from Bosnia
Herzegovina who travels throughout the country picking up peoples from all
ethnicities. This sketch was a humorous view of the similarities between Serbs,
Bosniaks and Croats and their quest for unity in diversity. The conclusion of the
Peace Event was the following poem written and recited by a girl from the third
class, entitled, Yesterday One City, Today Two.
In the old days, one town

Today two
Tomorrow maybe three
It split on the day
When the axe of peace fell in the mud
The town disappeared
It split then
Many bridges were built
Contacts were forbidden
Two are there now
It brought disharmony and hunger
We treat each other as strangers
One side to them, the other one to us
That’s what the situation is like now
Who is guilty for that?
Me, you, she or he
That question is not important now

The important question is what is going to happen tomorrow

The day after tomorrow or in couple of years
It is important that we are going to be one people, one town
And everything else is not important now
The response to the Peace Event was overwhelming. The local government,
media, parents and students themselves felt a sense of exhilarating
accomplishment. Parents were very emotionally touched watching their children
speak so honestly and beautifully about matters which had alluded them for
years. Officials from the international community expressed their relief that EFP
exists in a divided city and members of the local government found themselves
agreeing for the first time on any one issue. Most importantly, the student
response was the eagerness for another year [of EFP].
At the start of the 2004–2005
academic year, Mostar Gymnasium—
which had been seriously damaged during
the war and designated as a “Croat Only”
school after the war—began to slowly
reintegrate its displaced Bosniak students
and staff.
Mostar Gymnasium
Worldview and Education for Peace

In the Education for Peace Program, the primary emphasis is on the development
of unity-based worldviews on the part of all participants. As the members of the
school community (students, teachers, staff, and parents) become aware of their
respective worldviews, they begin to appreciate the fundamental role that these
views play in the formulation of their ideas, formation of their sentiments, and
the genesis of their decisions and actions. The impact of worldview awareness on
individuals and groups is almost immediate.
The first impact of worldview awareness is in the psychological sphere. Self-
knowledge is an irreversible process. Once we become aware of a certain truth,
we cannot get rid of this awareness. We may try to forget the new awareness by

busying ourselves with other issues, numbing our faculties with drugs and other
substances, and trying to search for explanations and proofs contrary to the
elements of this new awareness. However, regardless of all our efforts, it is
impossible, in the absence of actual brain disorder, for us to “un-know” what we
already “know.” We can neither lie to ourselves nor hide from the truth. Self-
knowledge is at once an opportunity and a challenge; and when the nature of
new knowledge is profound and consequential, we may perceive it as a threat and
try to hide from it. That is one important reason why individuals and groups alike
tend to distort historical facts and make every effort to obliterate all evidences
that point to a given unpalatable truth. That is why there are those who deny
horrendous episodes of human savagery such as the Holocaust and other
genocidal events and crimes against humanity, even those committed in our
times. And that is why individuals, institutions, and governments have so many
secrets to hide. That is also why history books and official explanations contain
many untruths and half-truths. And, finally that is why there is now so much
demand on the part of oppressed peoples of the world―women, children,
minorities, the poor, and the subjugated―that their histories be told according to
the truth of what they have suffered and are suffering and not what has been
officially reported. The efforts to hide the truth and to escape its powerful force
are futile. Truth is akin to light. Both light and truth can be hidden but not
obliterated. However, eventually the veils hiding the truth will be removed and
the hidden would become manifest.
During the past fourteen years (2000–2014) of the implementation of EFP in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have observed at first hand, the powerful and
positive impact of worldview transformation in adults and youth alike who have
been helped to reflect on their respective worldviews and evaluate their own
thoughts, feelings, and actions in the light of this new awareness. Examples of
this awareness and the subsequent worldview transformation are many. Here is
one example:

While talking to a group of 80 grades 11 and 12 students in Banja Luka

Gymnasium, in 2005, I told the students that as young people they should
endeavor to become extraordinary and not simply ordinary. I then pointed
out that if we look into history we see that the most extraordinary individuals
have been peacemakers. How many peacemakers do you know? I asked. They
were able to count only a few. I pointed out that the reason for having only a
few peacemakers known to history is because peacemaking is a truly
extraordinary undertaking. “And now it is your turn to become peacemakers
by first adopting a unity-based worldview and then living according to its
principles.”
At this point, several students started to make comments and share their
views. One female student said, “I have decided to become a peacemaker, but
what about our fathers?” Another female student wondered why men are so
prone to violence and why women support and encourage this violence? Then
a young man said, “I have decided to become extraordinary by becoming a
peacemaker, but what about those individuals who become extraordinary by
doing ‘bad things’?”
When the meeting ended the teacher who was present at the meeting,
excitedly asked, “Do you know who this young man was?’ and then informed
me that he was the son of a high military person in the Bosnian Serb Army,
indicted as a war criminal by the Former Yugoslavia War Tribunal in The
Hague. The army official has been in hiding for several years and during that
period the young student had not seen his father, who is considered as an
“extraordinary hero” by some Bosnian Serbs.
The second impact of worldview transformation is with respect to individual and
group relationships and social interactions. Our relationships are shaped by our
view of the world, human nature, and the purpose of human life. In the context of
a unity-based worldview, individuals and groups alike modify their approach to
relationships and social interactions and begin to see beyond the prejudicial and
suspicious veils through which people in conflicted situations tend to see each
other. Once the veils of prejudice, suspicion, misunderstanding, and
misinformation are to some degree removed, the main issue that emerges is the

gradual emergence of the consciousness of our fundamental oneness expressed in

the context of our uniqueness and diversity. The following statements by students
and teachers from BiH schools implementing the EFP Program convey the
impact of worldview in their personal and interpersonal lives.
The EFP project has brought some changes to our school, our community and
our families. The walls of our school are full of students’ art works, pictures,
poetry, posters, essays and drawings. The collaboration between parents and
the school has become better, and the teachers and their parents from Travnik
have visited our school. The school has become the center of cultural events,
and people are talking a lot about EFP in our community.
—Parent and Support Staff, Nova Bila Primary School
In her statement, this parent describes the process of worldview alteration in the
school by referring to the students’ artwork displayed on the walls of the school.
She then proceeds to refer to the fact that this transformation has resulted in the
visit of students belonging to another ethnic group (Bosniak) to her school
(Croat), an event that in 2001 was a rare occurrence in BiH, and even when it
happened it usually did not involve students as well as teachers and
parents/guardians. In this case, all were involved, and all were focused on how to
create peace between their respective groups.
I am pleasantly surprised with this project [EFP] because I was afraid a little
at the beginning that this project will not survive in our environment. I was
pleasantly surprised with the way in which the pupils accepted this project.
They accepted it very seriously, and they have shown a great deal of interest
and creativity through the presentations that have shown their vision of peace
and unity. . . . The parents also accepted this project and they followed the
work of their children with full interest, and they have supported the children
and have helped in bringing success to the realization of this project. I can
only say that this project through my subject of geography has given me a lot
of possibilities and opportunities for creativity.
—Geography Teacher, 3rd Primary School, Ilidza
This teacher is reflecting on the transformative impact of the EFP Program on the
students, their parents/guardians, and teachers alike. The following reflections

by two high-school students are more explicit in their adoption of the principles
of unity-based worldview:
Once, someone asked me, ‘How could you go to Banja Luka for this National
Peace Event? Don’t you know what happened here and what they have done to
our mothers and our children?’ I said to this man that it is not up to us, as
youth, to dwell and talk about what happened because none of the children
had a say in it and actually took part in the war. We are doing this to say to
people that we are all here and are going to do everything we can so that it
never repeats again. What happened needs to be behind us. I think that these
presentations that we created and shared with each other are one of the best
ways to go about starting to make a change.
—Year 3 student, 2nd Gymnasium, Sarajevo
I think that a main part of the EFP project is to share our understanding of
peace and to learn how to become peacemakers. It really doesn’t matter where
you are from. I thought in the beginning that this project wouldn’t affect
anyone, but to me the effect has been so amazing. Students have been so
excited to be involved in it.
—Grade 9 student, Mixed Secondary School, Travnik
The third area of impact of worldview transformation is with respect to moral,
ethical, and spiritual aspects of the life of the participants. Conflict and violence,
in addition to physical, psychological, and social damages they inflict on
perpetrators and victims alike, also damage the spiritual wellbeing of all involved.
The human spiritual state is that dimension of our being that propels us to
pursue ever-higher levels of knowledge in our search for truth, ever-deeper and
broader planes of love in our quest for unity, and ever-nobler acts of service and
justice in our strivings for peace. Spirituality confirms our humanity, gives us
assurance and faith in the fundamental goodness of life, and connects us to the
realms of the sacred.
The unity-based worldview has an integrative quality that promotes the
integration of psychological and social as well as moral and spiritual dimensions
of human life into a coherent framework of approach to life. Within this
framework there is an inherent synergy among our thoughts, feeling, actions,

aspirations, and principles. In the absence of such a synergy, conflicts become

abundant and tend to impact intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social aspects of
the life of all involved. Similar dynamics also apply to the unity-based worldview
in the context of groups and societies. Unity promotes harmonious relationships;
rejects prejudicial attitudes, behaviors and actions; and cultivates noble and
universal individual and group objectives. These qualities—inner synergy, noble
aspirations, and harmonious relationships—are spiritual in nature, have
profound psychosocial expressions, and are antithetical to violence.
Creating a Culture of Healing: The BiH Example

In March 2005 the EFP held an intensive training workshop on the theme of
“Culture of Healing” for some 200 high school teachers, pedagogues, and
directors of 100 secondary schools from 60 different cities, towns, and villages.
These educators had been studying and implementing, over the course of the
previous eighteen months, the principles of Education for Peace with the goal of
obtaining an EFP specialty certificate. Prior to their involvement in the EFP
Program, these individuals were complete strangers and because they came from
the three main BiH ethnic backgrounds they had been estranged from one
another and distrustful of each other ever since the recent barbaric war in their
country.
These individuals came from rural and urban areas, relatively homogeneous
and highly heterogeneous communities, and somewhat affluent and extremely
poor economies. They came from the killing zones of Srebrenica; the divided and
scarred city of Mostar; the besieged and violated capital, Sarajevo, where some of
the finest fruits of Islamic, Christian, and Jewish civilizations are brought
together in a truly rich cultural alchemy. They came from various regions of BiH,
where the relatives and friends of these educators and possibly even some of
them themselves were only few years ago involved in one of the most barbaric
wars in Europe since the Second World War.

The initial period of EFP training aimed at creating conditions of trust,

understanding, and mutual respect among the participants and gradually
establishing a Culture of Peace and a Culture of Healing within and among their
respective school communities. In the course of these eighteen months, as these
individuals learned the principles of peace, applied them to their personal lives,
and trained their students within their framework, these individuals found
themselves ready to look at the very difficult issue of recent violence and war in
which they were, directly or indirectly, its main victims and perpetrators. As one
of the steps towards establishing a culture of healing within and among these
school communities, we asked the following two questions:
1. To the best of your knowledge, what types of violence have your students
experienced in their lives?
2. To the best of your knowledge, what have been your students’ main
responses to these episodes of violence?
The participants, divided in small groups, were asked to consult and together
formulate their responses to these questions based on their actual knowledge of
the experiences and comments of their students. The groups identified three
predominant modes of violence in their school communities: family, intergroup,
and interpersonal, in that order. They attributed all three types of violence to
negative consequences of the recent war and singled out poverty, moral
degradation, corruption, and alcoholism as other main consequences of war and
violence. They also observed that the media in general and television in particular
are further exacerbating the culture of violence that has evolved in a virulent
manner since the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and the recent
hostilities in BiH. Here are some of the observations by these educators:
- Out of many forms of violence that are going on today―and all are the
consequences of the war that we had here―we most often see intergroup violence
and family violence. War is the cause of every kind of violence. Every day we
witness groups of students who are being invited [to fight] by one student who is
in conflict with some other student and then that student invites his friends and
the situation becomes very complex. We have put a video surveillance in school.

- We came to certain conclusion: family violence is the most common form of

violence. …We think that poverty is a cause of violence, and poverty is caused by
war. Other causes of violence we identified are lack of perspective and lack of
communication between parents and children. Kids and parents have only six
minutes of communication a day! Another important reason for violence is the
shaken system of values. Parents are redirecting their aggression toward their
kids. Parents are not satisfied with their lives and then the kids are the one as the
weak ones suffering from that. Our second conclusion is that intergroup violence
is often due to bad role models, search for identity, bad TV, and consumer
mentality. . . .
- This theme [types of violence experienced by students and their impact on them]
is like Pandora’s box. This is the impression we had. Many examples came out,
and we began to think of our students and adults. Most are related to
interpersonal and family violence. Interpersonal violence is related to fear that
we won’t have anything to eat, physical injuries, all the injuries that are visible,
children without some members of their body, inner wounds, Speaking of family
violence, we will all agree that most probably that family in which you have cases
of violence is closed to the community and the question is how far can a school go
to prevent or diminish the violence?
- We put in the first place family violence and then intergroup. But all forms of
violence, random violence, and interpersonal violence are present in great
percentage. . . . One additional thing we want to stress is that media as a form of
violence related to content of news. Then issue of political violence from majority
towards minority. . . .
In the course of the implementation of the EFP Program in BiH, we learned
that violence prevention is only possible in the context of peace creation. And
peace creation is only possible when we simultaneously address the twin tasks of
creating a culture of healing and a culture of peace in a given society. Both these
processes require a fundamental transformation of the worldviews of the
participants from conflict orientation to that of unity. True transformation
impacts both the individual and the society. At the individual level, worldview
transformation must reflect fundamental and consistent changes in the thoughts,

sentiments, decisions, and actions of the person. Societal transformation is

reflected in the mode of operation of the institutions of the society and in the
systemic changes that promote new ways of social relations, enforced by
necessary laws and their effective implementation in the context of justice and
unity.
Thus far the EFP programs have been implemented in hundreds of schools
(K-12) in BiH and to a lesser extent in the families in BiH and more recently in a
few schools in USA, Mexico, and Canada. There is ample evidence that a
systematic, sustained, whole school introduction of EFP into the school
curriculum, often results in creation of a culture of peace (violence-free, bullying-
free); a culture of healing (from the negative impacts of conflict and violence);
and a culture of excellence (academic and behavioral).
In Conclusion
Human violence has its genesis in biological, psychological, social, and spiritual
aspects of human life and is particularly prevalent during the earlier stages of
individual and collective development. Human development takes place on the
axis of consciousness and is shaped by our worldview that is learned from life
experiences, education opportunities, cultural norms, environmental conditions,
and personal inquiry. Worldview shapes our understanding of the nature of
reality, human nature, the purpose of life, and laws governing human
relationships.
Human violence is the outcome of the violation of the primary law of life—
unity. Whenever unity is absent, violence is present and peace is missing. Unity,
universal and all encompassing, is the hallmark of humanity’s coming of age. In
its long march toward maturity, humanity has struggled to free itself from the
destructive forces of self-centeredness, aggression, injustice, tyranny, prejudice,
and ignorance. The universal human yearning for love, peace, beauty, and
knowledge has its source in the very core of human nature. It is this yearning that
propels us to counter the forces of self-centeredness and aggressive tendencies

that characterize the dominance of the biological and instinctual dimensions of

our nature in the earlier stages of our development.
The coming of age of humanity corresponds with the era of its psychological
maturation, social justice, and spiritual transformation. An integrated scientific
and spiritual outlook on life, an evolved emotional state, conscious and self-
responsible behavior, a just and progressive social order, and an all-
encompassing and unifying orientation characterizes true maturity. Attempts to
create equality of the sexes; the harmony of science and religion; cooperation and
mutual trust between warring nations, races, and religions; and finally,
acceptance of the oneness of humanity are all unity-based psychosocial and
ethical undertakings that will ultimately lead to the creation of a unified global
society—a society free from violence, operating according the universal principles
of peace that:
• humanity is one,
• our oneness is expressed in diversity, and
• our greatest challenge and opportunity is to strengthen our oneness
and nurture our diversity.
The goal of creating violence-free and peaceful environments is achievable
when children and youth of every generation are educated within the parameters
of a peace-based curriculum and are helped to learn how to be leaders and
citizens functioning within the framework of unity-based worldviews. Unity and
peace are wholesome states of being with biological, psychological, social, moral,
and spiritual components. These different facets of being are coordinated
through the integrative powers of the human mind. It is at the level of the mind
and heart that violence is conceived and is either discarded or propelled to its
devastating end. It is the feverish mind that erupts into fiery explosion of violent
passions and destructive actions. And it is the life-giving water of unity and all-
inclusive love that can extinguish this fever. And unity, while an innate quest,
needs to be taught to every new generation through the all-important task of
Educating for Peace.

_______________________________________________________
Dr. H. B. Danesh (www.hbdanesh.org) is the founder and president of International
Education for Peace Institute and a retired professor of psychiatry and peace and conflict
resolution. This essay is a summary of a book with the same name (Fever in the World of
the Mind: On Causes and Prevention of Violence) by him published in 2013 by EFP
Press, Victoria, BC, Canada (www.efpinternational.org).
NOTES
1
The following sites offer glimpses of gun violence in the United States and some other countries:
Insurrectionism Timeline in the United States at:
http://www.csgv.org/issues-and-campaigns/guns-democracy-and-freedom/insurrection-timeline; A Guide
to Mass Shootings in America: There have been at least 62 in the last 30 years—and most of the killers got
their guns legally. By Mark Follman, Gavin Aronsen, and Deanna Pan | Updated: Sat Dec. 15, 2012 11:45
AM PST http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map ;
Time Line of Worldwide School and Mass Shootings http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html
Read more: Time Line of Worldwide School Shootings —
Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html#ixzz2HdbJ9QCk
2
A. Kellermann et al., “Weapon Involvement in Home Invasion Crimes,” Journal of the American Medical
Association 273 (1995): 1759–62.
3
A. Kellermann et al., “Injuries and Deaths Due to Firearms in the Home,” Journal of Trauma 45.2 (1998):
263–67.
4
All quotations in this paragraph are from John Ralston Saul in On Equilibrium, 251–52.
5
For more details on the concept and types of worldview, see H. B. Danesh, “Towards an Integrative
Theory of Peace Education,” Journal of Peace Education 3.1 (2006): 55–78. H. B. Danesh, “Education for
Peace: The Pedagogy of Civilization,” Addressing Ethnic Conflict through Peace Education: International
Perspectives, Zvi Bekerman and Claire McGlynn, eds., New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2007.
6
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962, 91.
7
R. Brian Ferguson, “Introduction: Studying War,” in R.B. Ferguson, ed., Warfare, Culture, and
Environment, Orlando: Academic Press, 1984, 12.
8 Danesh H. B., and R.P. Danesh.( 2002.) Has conflict resolution grown up? Toward a new model of decision-making
and conflict resolution. International Journal of Peace Studies 7, no.1: 59–76.

9 For more on the concept of unity see:
- Danesh H. B., and R.P. Danesh. 2002a. Has conflict resolution grown up? Toward a new model of
decision-making and conflict resolution. International Journal of Peace Studies 7, no.1: 59–76.
- Danesh, H.B. (2006). Towards an integrative theory of peace education. Journal of Peace Education 3,
no.1: 55–78.
- Danesh, (H.B. 2008). Unity-based peace education. In Encyclopedia of peace education, ed. Monisha
Bajaj. 147–56. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
10
Danesh, H.B. (2008) “Creating a Culture of Healing in Multiethnic Communities: An Integrative
Approach to Prevention and Amelioration of Violence-Induced Conditions,” Journal of Community
Psychology 36.6 (2008): 814–32.
11
Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, orig. pub. 1871, New York: Prometheus Books, 1998. 126–27.
12
For a detailed description of this concept, see H. B. Danesh, The Psychology of Spirituality: From
Divided Self to Integrated Self, 2d ed. Hong Kong: Juxta Publishing, 1997.
13
A troubling example of this approach to violence was the campaign in the United States from 2005
onward to make this type of response a legally sanctioned response through legislation, as was done in the
State of Florida. For details see, for example, “Fla. Gun Law to Expand Leeway for Self-Defense: NRA to

Promote Idea in Other States,” by Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post staff writer, Tuesday, April 26,
2005; A01.
14
Martin Luther King, Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther
King, Jr., New York: HarperCollins, 1990, 594.
15
For an excellent review of the concept of nonviolence and the examples mentioned here, see Richard B.
Gregg, The Power of Nonviolence, 2d ed., New York: Schocken Books, 1966.
16
For more information about EFP, see www.efpinternational.org and Education for Peace Reader at
http://efpinternational.org/dev/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/efp_reader.pdf
17
Danesh, H.B. (2008). “Creating a Culture of Healing in Multiethnic Communities: An Integrative
Approach to Prevention and Amelioration of Violence-Induced Conditions,” Journal of Community
Psychology 36.6 (2008): 814–32.
18
See, for example, Ruth Firer, “The Gordian Knot Between Peace Education and War Education,” in
Gavriel Salomon and Baruch Nevo, eds., Peace Education: The Concept, Principles, and Practices
around the World, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 2002.
19 Zarko Papic, “Bosnia and Herzegovina—From Reconstruction towards Sustainable Development” in Reconstruction
and Deconstruction, second English volume of Forum Bosnae Quarterly Review, ed. Francis R. Jones and
van Lovernovic, Sarajevo: International Forum Bosnia, 2002, 145–54.
20 For details on the 1992–1995 war in BiH and its impact, see “Reconstruction and Deconstruction,” Forum Bosnae
Quarterly 2002 and Sarajevo 2000: The Psychosocial Consequences of War, ed. Steve Powel and Elvira
Durakovic-Belko, www.psih.org.

Danesh Fever in The World of The Mind On Causes & Prevention of Violence

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FEVER IN THE WORLD OF THE MIND

On Causes and Prevention of Violence

Published by EFP Press, Victoria, Canada, August 2014

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Why is Violence Winning?

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violence in our families and communities. We contribute to the promotion of

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ambivalent even contradictory attitude toward violence. On the one hand, we

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Worldview and Violence

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other exclusive group-identities. These concepts are conflict-based by nature and

Survival-Based Identity-Based Unity-Based

Operating Survival of the

Mode of Just, equal,

Ultimate To Survive and To Create

Table 1: Worldview Types and Characteristics

Researchers and their Worldviews

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is essential that in consideration of any research modality or outcome we

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The Unity Paradigm

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natural outcome is the formation of violence-free environments and harmonious

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Worldviews develop in the context of life processes—the challenges we face and

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Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 New

Precursors Thoughts of Feelings of Urge for Acts of New cycle of

Figure 1. The vicious cycle of violence

Threats and Violence

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Through this dichotomous perception of the world, violent individuals and

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The Violent Psyche

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VIOLENCE: A SYMPTOM OF A DISEASE

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Human Needs, Human Rights, and Violence

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Unity and the Causes of Human Violence

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Maturation is a conscious, willful process based on accumulated life

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framework of conflict-based worldviews that promote doctrines of self-

move beyond its collective adolescence.

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