Marshall Rosenberg

Marshall Rosenberg (born October 6, 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 Director of Educational Services for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, an international non-profit organization.

Biography

Rosenberg was born in Canton, Ohio to Jewish parents, Jean (Weiner) Rosenberg and Fred Rosenberg. His family moved to Detroit, Michigan one week prior to the race riots of 1943. He graduated from Cooley High School in Detroit.

In 1961, Rosenberg received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and in 1966 was awarded Diplomate status in clinical psychology from the American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the Center for Nonviolent Communication's office is located.

Education

While Rosenberg is most well known for his work with conflict resolution through his system of "life-serving" Nonviolent Communication (NVC), he has also made education reform a major component of his work.

Building on the ideas of Neil Postman, Riane Eisler, Walter Wink, Carl Rogers, and others, Rosenberg's contribution to this field involves reforming schools into "Life-Enriching" organizations, with the following characteristics:^[1]

• 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.

Rosenberg borrows the phrase "Dominator Culture" from Riane Eisler and builds upon Walter Wink's theory that we have lived under a domination-culture paradigm for about 8,000 years. Rosenberg says this culture utilizes a specialized language and system of education to allow a small minority to rule over the vast majority of the people, so that the majority is not serving their own life-needs, but serving their masters'.

Activities

The Center for Nonviolent Communication emerged out of work Rosenberg was doing with civil rights activists in the early 1960s. During this period he provided mediation and communication skills training to communities working to desegregate schools and other public institutions.

He worked with educators, managers, mental health and health care providers, lawyers, military officers, prisoners, police and prison officials, clergy, government officials and individual families.

He is a member of the Honorary Board of the International Coalition for the Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence (2001–2010)

As of 2004:

• Nonviolent Communication training has been available in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, 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.

Awards

• 2006: Bridge of Peace Nonviolence Award from the Global Village Foundation
• 2005: Light of God Expressing in Society Award from the Association of Unity Churches
• 2004: Religious Science International Golden Works Award
• 2004: International Peace Prayer Day Man of Peace Award by the Healthy, Happy Holy (3HO) Organization
• 2000: International Listening Association Listener of the Year Award

See also

• Nonviolent Communication

Bibliography

Books by Rosenberg (2005) Being Me, Loving You: A Practical Guide to Extraordinary Relationships (2005) Practical Spirituality: The Spiritual Basis of Nonviolent Communication (2005) Speak Peace in a World of Conflict: What You Say Next Will Change Your World. Encinitas, CA: PuddleDancer Press. ISBN 1-892005-17-4 (2005) The Surprising Purpose of Anger: Beyond Anger Management: Finding the Gift (2004) Getting Past the Pain Between Us: Healing and Reconciliation Without Compromise (2004) The Heart of Social Change: How to Make a Difference in Your World (2004) Raising Children Compassionately: Parenting the Nonviolent Communication Way (2004) Teaching Children Compassionately: How Students and Teachers Can Succeed with Mutual Understanding (2004) We Can Work It Out: Resolving Conflicts Peacefully and Powerfully (2003) Life-Enriching Education: NVC Helps Schools Improve Performance, Reduce Conflict and Enhance Relationships. Encinitas, CA: PuddleDancer Press. ISBN 1-892005-05-0 (2003) Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Second Edition. Encinitas, CA: PuddleDancer Press. ISBN 1-892005-03-4 (1986) Duck Tales and Jackal Taming Hints. Booklet. (Out of Print) (1973) Mutual Education: Toward Autonomy and Interdependence. Bernie Straub Publishing Co. (Out of Print) ISBN 0-87562-040-X (1968) Diagnostic Teaching Special Child Publications (Out of Print) ISBN 0-87562-013-2

Articles about Rosenberg and NVC Atlee, T. "Thoughts on Nonviolent Communication and Social Change." Co-intelligence Institute. Kabatznick, R. and M. Cullen (2004) "The Traveling Peacemaker: A Conversation with Marshall Rosenberg." Inquiring Mind, Fall issue. Moore, P. (2004) "NonViolent Communication as an Evolutionary Imperative-The InnerView of Marshall Rosenberg" Alternatives, Issue 29, Spring. Simons, G. (2003) "Review of Nonviolent Communication" SIETAR Europa Newsletter, November. Sauer, M. (2004) "Expert on conflict resolution believes nonviolence is in our nature" San Diego Union-Tribune, October 14, 2004. van Gelder, S. (1998) "The Language of Nonviolence" Yes Magazine, Summer 1998

References

1. ^ Rosenberg, Marshall B., Life-Enriching Education, 2003, Puddle Dancer Press

External links

• Center For Nonviolent Communication
• Big Picture TV Free video clip of Marshall Rosenberg discussing Nonviolent Communication
• Interview with Marshall Rosenberg about Nonviolent Communication in close relationships
• PuddleDancer Press: the main publisher of Nonviolent Communication related works
• Giving from the heart Excerpt from the book Nonviolent Communication: A language of life
• Wiki for Nonviolent Communication
• Marshall Rosenberg Library
• Marshall Rosenberg video clips on youtube
• TruceWorks A conflict resolution website influenced by his Nonviolent Communication Theory

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Name	Rosenberg, Marshall
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Date of birth	October 6, 1934
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