Research & Background
Principals of Non-Violent Communication
Compassionate Communication & Non-Violent Living
Nonviolent Communication (NVC), also called Compassionate Communication, is an approach to nonviolent living developed by Marshall Rosenberg beginning in the 1960s.
It is based on the idea that all human beings have the capacity for compassion and only resort to violence or behavior that harms themselves and others when they do not recognize more effective strategies for meeting needs.
Nonviolent Communication holds that most conflicts between individuals or groups arise from miscommunication about their human needs, due to coercive or manipulative language that aims to induce fear, guilt, shame, etc. These “violent” modes of communication, when used during a conflict, divert the attention of the participants away from clarifying their needs, their feelings, their perceptions, and their requests, thus perpetuating the conflict.
NVC supports change on three interconnected levels: 1. with self, 2. with others, and 3. with groups and social systems. As such it is particularly present in the areas of personal development, relationships, and social change.
NVC is designed to improve compassionate connection to others. However, due to its far-reaching impact it has also been interpreted as a spiritual practice, a set of values, a parenting technique, a method of social change, a mediation tool, an educational orientation, and a worldview. To find out more about this program, contact us.
Research and Publications about Nonviolent Communication
We have gathered a large amount of information, including published journal articles, magazine articles, email, reports, and other communications related to research done to investigate the effects of NVC on violence, learning and other possible outcomes in various settings, including schools, parent-child settings, prisons and juvenile detention residences, etc. This allows others with interest in NVC research to easily search, identify, and obtain this information. This is especially important considering the fact that most of the work done to investigate the significance of NVC has not been formally published but exists in reports and dissertations that are not easy to identify or obtain.
Please feel free to browse the growing body of research reports, academic communications and publications on Nonviolent Communication below.