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A Framework for Thinking about Peace/Justice Curriculum

Introductory Note: While the following framework is described as five steps, they should not be viewed as being completely separate from each other. (Steps Two and Three, in particular, are quite connected - because they are combined within people's experiences.) It would be more accurate to think of them as four separate focal points, but comprising the same overall picture.

While there is value in viewing these points in the sequence listed (beginning with one, and proceeding up to four), they should not be thought of as a one-way line that ends at Step Five. Rather, they should be considered as points in a picture; viewing/constructing the picture involves continually attending to its different parts.

Step One: Exploring One Another's "Vision of Justice"

Advocates for social justice, and people in our society in general, often frame the process of studying and responding to social issues as the process of eliminating an injustice (e.g. we're "against violence", "against homelessness", "against discrimination").

I would suggest that "being against" something is insufficient -- that we need to also, and primarily, be "for" something.

I would suggest further that the process of envisioning and dialoguing about what the presence of justice might be like (e.g. "the positive meaning of peace", "what true homes are", "the reality of full inclusion") draws on ways of knowing beyond just scientific analysis. It includes people's imagination and intuition. As a result, it brings important sources of energy to the process that intellectual or statistical analysis alone cannot provide.

The outcome of this step can serve as a valuable standard by which we then assess the results of subsequent steps.

Steps Two through Four focus on developing greater understanding of "the way things are". We can then compare that information to the content of Step One, which expresses "the way we believe things ought to be".
Step Five surfaces a variety of ideas about "responding to the way things are". The content of Step One can help us to discern which responses are in greatest harmony with "the way we believe things ought to be".

Step Two: Developing an Accurate Perspective on the People/Culture

There is a strong societal tendency to approach a situation that involves significant suffering with the perception that those in the midst of the situation are ignorant, helpless, and completely and solely "needy" - and thus that our role must be to help/rescue them.

One key factor that can causes these perceptions are the sources of information we receive (particularly the mainstream media).

This perception contains two distortions:

It neglects the fact that all people have dignity, and thus have gifts and hopes/dreams as well as needs.
It neglects the fact that all people (including ourselves) have needs and weaknesses, including in terms of our biases (eg, about class, race, culture).

Thus, it is critical to include descriptions of the gifts and dreams of those who experience an injustice firsthand, ideally in their own voices.

Step Three: Developing a Compassionate Perspective on the People/Situation

When we encounter another's suffering, especially if it is something that seems greater than as well as different from suffering we've experienced, there's a tendency to keep an emotional distance from it. One way of doing so is to treat the situation in a purely intellectual way. (Statistics can help us to do that.)

Another way is to allow ourselves just to feel pity for those who are going through it. While pity involves a sense of sadness, it also involves a kind of emotional distance, a way of protecting myself from being overwhelmed by what the other person feels. I feel sad for them, but I don't really allow myself to feel with them.

The search for justice requires that we be "compassionate" - literally, to "feel with" another - to allow ourselves to enter into what it might be like to be in the shoes of those with firsthand experience, to empathize with what the situation looks like and feels like to them. It means letting them guide our understanding of what they are going through, on a variety of levels -- emotional, social, and spiritual as well as physical or financial.

Step Four: Understanding the Causes of Their Situation

Learning about another's suffering triggers a desire in us to respond to help make it better. However, if we do not understand the situation well, our responses, though well-intentioned, can be misguided - especially if they fail to address the causes.

In addition, just saying "let's look for causes" isn't enough. In the US society, we have such a strong belief in "individualism" and "personal responsibility" that the only causes we tend to see are those caused by individuals (or small groups). There's a strong tendency to assume that either the person who is suffering brought it on themselves, or that someone else (or a few other people) are directly and intentionally mistreating them. As a result, we often miss causes that are the result of the way systems/structures work (eg, laws, policies, patterns of relationships, customs, ways in which power is distributed).

Another cultural tendency is to fail to consider the historical background of present situations. As a result, we sometimes fail to recognize the process that created the current situation - and the process (and time) that changing it will require.

It is particularly challenging to consider the systemic piece - because our own lives often participate in maintaining unjust systems, not because we want them to, but because we don't recognize how they do or how to do it differently. But there is "good news" hidden here - because if we are participating in the problem, we can alter our participation so that it is directed toward the solution.

Step Five: Understanding Possible Responses/Solutions

It's typical, and understandable, to choose to do actions that we are used to doing. But if those actions are done without an awareness of others' gifts and dreams (Step Two), we may be ignoring their ability to be part of, even central to, the solution. And if our actions are done to make us feel better about helping instead of out of compassion for what they are going through (Step Three), we may be the only ones who feel better. And if our actions ignore the causes of their suffering (Step Four), we may only be addressing the symptoms, and then just for a short time.

The search for justice requires that we pay attention to the ability of the people themselves to participate in creating the solutions that meet their needs.

It also requires that we seek to address the causes as well as the symptoms of their suffering. The Social Change Wheel is a valuable tool to use in order to the various dimensions of the process of responding.

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