The Joy Of Natural Giving: Nonviolent Communication

Marshall Rosenberg (born 1934) is an American psychologist and the creator of Nonviolent Communication, a communication process that helps people to exchange the information necessary to resolve conflicts and differences peacefully. He is the founder and former Director of Educational Services for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, an international non-profit organization.

“What others do may be a stimulus of our feelings, but not the cause.” - Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D.,

Rosenberg's contribution has been  reforming schools into "Life-Enriching" organizations, with the following characteristics:

·         The people are empathically connected to what each is feeling and needing—-they do not blame themselves or let judgments implying wrongness obscure this connection to each other.

·         The people are aware of the interdependent nature of their relationships and value the others’ needs being fulfilled equally to their own needs being fulfilled—-they know that their needs cannot be met at someone else’s expense.

·         The people take care of themselves and each other with the sole intention of enriching their lives—they are not motivated by, nor do they use coercion in the form of guilt, shame, duty, obligation, fear of punishment, or hope for extrinsic rewards.

The goals of such schools being

·         make life more wonderful

·         get everyone's needs met

·         connect with self and others

·         motivate through the joy of natural giving, i.e., contributing to the well-being of others

·         learning how to receive freely from others

This is in contrast with traditional "domination culture" schools which

·         prove who's right and who's wrong (e.g., grades)

·         teach students how to obey authority

·         dispense labels, evaluations, diagnoses, and moralistic judgements (e.g., Learning disabled, Special Needs, Emotionally disturbed, Culturally disadvantaged, Hyperactive, ADD, etc.)

·         Motivate desired behavior through punishment, reward, guilt, shame, duty, or obligation.

As of 2004:

• Nonviolent Communication training has been available in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Malaysia, India, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Finland, Australia, France, and Canada, as well as in the United States.

• Peace activists have used Nonviolent Communication in such war-torn and/or economically disadvantaged countries as Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Brazil, Russia, Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Serbia, and Croatia.