National Institute of the Study of Violence

The Wall Project:

There are a tremendous number of incidents of violence throughout our country and this violence must stop. We can confront violence on the street and in our homes if we work together. Violence is not our number one problem our number one problem is we do not have a general consensus as what we should do about violence in our country. All of us need to work together to rid our nation of violence making our streets safe again. The first decision all of us need to make is that we are all going to get involve and do whatever we can do in any capacity to end violence in our nation. Ending violence begins with everyone. It begins with our changing and making up our minds that we are going to confront this issues with all of our resources until we see a drastic change in the statistics being reported on the number of murders and rapes being committed in this country and the number of juveniles crimes being committed in this country.

The Institute researched the murders of 20,000 women, murders that occurred across this country between 1930 to 2003, a 70-year period. This is what we learned when we looked at the victim and this is what we learned when we looked at the assailant. When we looked at the victim we learned. Women are being murdered because they do not know they are in danger. Many women live their lives wearing blinders. Lives could be saved if women are told danger signs and warnings. Murder is not a spontaneous combustion. We also learned women talk too much and they make too many assumptions and that is why men are able to murder them. Women invite murderers into their lives and into their homes. These are not flattering characteristics but nevertheless true of many women. Understanding these facts can lead to the solutions of some murders and the prevention of others. The key lies in why women talk so much and how they make assumptions. We designed The Women's Art Exhibit to deal with this phenomenon to make women aware of their behavior. We want women to know if they change the way they think they can reduce the possibilities that they will become a victim thus saving their life and the live of their children.

When we looked at the assailant it was the assailant's profile that led us to the idea that we need to seek God. What we learned looking at the assailants over the same 70 year period was over 252,287 women have been murdered in this country; 25 million children in this country were born to single women and 2.5 million men have been imprisoned prison with over 4000 people on death row over this same period. When we look at these figures again and again we saw it. Education and economics were factors in imprisonment but not the essential element. The essential element was fathers. The absence of true fathers in the home has devastated our nation. Please note we did not say the absence of men in the home or the absence of males in the home we said the absence of fathers in the home. A closer look at the assailant led us to ask the question what is supporting this activity what is supporting the violence we are seeing. The answer is evilness. Evilness was supporting the violence we were seeing. And the only weapon against evilness is God. It is evilness that has run men from the home and the only way to fight evilness is to seek God. There is only one way to stop violence and that is by using the word of God to change the behavior of men and women.

Please see Job 1:6-7 and Job 2: 1-2 and 1 Peter 5:5. We can support this statement but not here (see The Wall). Preventing violence is the Institute's number one priority. But when we examined our data we realized the only way our goal could be accomplished was if we began to lead for social changes. Therefore the Institute has published The Wall, Hands Across America and four volumes of the series Do This In Remembrance of Me to make violence relevant to every man and woman living in this country. Our goal now is to present information to the American public that cannot be ignored. The Wall was written telling men that they can change their lives if they change the way they think. Hands Across America was written to alert women to the dangers around them and to get them to be cognizance of the behavior of some men. Again, the Institute has developed five goals to tackle violence in the country and they are:

To get men to consider changing their lives by changing the way they think and to live their lives with standards and integrity and to consider the benefits of marriage.

To stop the number of women between the ages of 40 - 50 from being the fastest growing number of new Aids victims in the country: Loneliness and lack of companionship is causing this phenomenon.

To reduce the number of children born in one-parent families by decreasing fornication and increasing the number of marriages in the country: The more marriages we have the fewer children will be in foster care. Many children in our foster care system and fatherless homes become inmates in our prisons because they do not have a male present in the home functioning as a father. The absence of true fathers in the home has devastated our nation. Fathers are the stabilizing element of a family when in turmoil. A father is the solidifying force that children go to for resolution or resolve.

To reduce the number of people committing adultery: Adultery destabilizes the family and brings violence into the home.

To stop non-related males from living in home with children: Many of these males are transients with no goals or purpose to their lives and some are drug users that end up violating children in their beds. Children are being stabbed, bitten, raped, kicked, scalded, strangled and murdered in their homes. This has to stop. These men do not belong in a home with children. They have lived in violent situations and they bring violence into the home. They have no patience or training to be caregivers.

Our premise is anyone can be a victim and unless you want tragedy to visit you then you must stand up and make an accounting of your life. You must stand for righteousness and accountability. You must stand for integrity and honor. You must stand for yourself and your fellow man and you must stand for right and not wrong. As citizens of this country we have an obligation to one another and that obligation extends beyond the grave. So by our actions we must speak for the victims by changing.

The Wall Project consists of the distribution of the book The Wall to all male prisoners in the United States, in both state and federal prisons. This is a monumental task, but we are committed to bringing the word of God to the men living behind bars. The Wall Project was designed to intervene in a prisoner’s life while he or she is in prison so that the person can begin the process of rehabilitating his/her soul. The book can also provide spiritual help to individuals on probation or in rehabilitation centers. The Wall is a tool that a person can use to build inner strength. Our goal is to have men understand how important men are to the family structure.

There are approximately 1.5 million men sitting in prisons in the United States. This number is obscene. This number reflects in part the number of children without fathers and the number of women living in this country without husbands. This number also reflects the economic disparity in the workplace. We as Americans must correct this situation. We cannot let another generation of males grow up to become prisoners.

Parole is the Luck of the Draw

A man says, “If you let me out of prison, I won’t do it again. I feel remorse for my past deeds and I plan to live a better life if I am paroled.” It is possible that he may mean these very words when he is speaking them to the parole board. But his behavior after he is released belies his intentions. Inherent in a man’s application for parole is that he must have the tools and/or community support to keep his promise. A parolee may not have control over his circumstances; consequently, he may or may not be able to control his future behavior. Most parolees return to the community unskilled, unemployed, homeless, and penniless; this is the same situation he or she was in when they committed their first crime. Their future is bleak. As long as there is a parole system or sentence limitations, our society needs to engage in activities that will rehabilitate prisoners. Prisoners must be given tools to improve their lives while they are in prison.

In the state of Michigan, during the last six months of the year 2002, four parolees murdered seven people on three different occasions. The parolees’ behavior destroyed the lives of a number of people. Now there are children left without fathers, wives left without husbands, and families left without a family member. In 2003, a man was paroled from prison only to allegedly murder his ex-wife and two of her children within a week of his parole. Another parolee murdered a child June 19, 2004. Society can no longer lock men up for their crimes and not attempt rehabilitation. More and more men and women and children will continue to be assaulted and/or murdered by parolees if society does not attempt rehabilitation. The NISV will be sending the book to prisoners one state at a time. The first states will be Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Please become involved. Citizens must speak up though their actions. Your actions may help save a life.

The cost of the book is $24.95. Make your checks payable to The National Institute of the Study of Violence. We need your help with this project. If you church has a prison ministry please call us and join our project. We would like to hear from associations and organizations that deal directly with alcohol and drug rehabilitation. We also invite the various fraternities and male Christian organizations in this country to help us with this project. If you would like to help, please contact us at:

NISV, The Wall Project Ministry
828 Greene Street Suite 101
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
http://www.nisv.info
E-mail: Yithril11@netzero.net
1-734-686-1444

"Parole is the Luck of the Draw" is an excerpt from the book Do This In Remembrance of Me - The Recidivist.

Our sole purpose is to shine a light into our prison so we can change the minds of men.