RAGE
A Documentary Video Series
About Men Caught in the Cycle of Violence
How do You Stop Violence?
In our society we incarcerate the perpetrators, we legislate laws to protect ourselves from future violence, and we comfort the victims if we can. This is our idea of prevention and remeadiation.
The Problem is That:
- We deal with symptoms rather than causes,
- We repair the damage, we don't prevent it and,
- We punish the perpetrators but we don't transform them.
In This World of Violence
Women and children are most often seen as the victims and men are seen as the perpetrators.
So What is it That Makes Men Violent?
For that matter what makes human beings violent? Finding the answers to these questions is the first step on the way to successfully preventing violence.
Rage is an exploration into the issues which underie violent behavior. It was conceived of, shot and directed by a group of five Federal Category-One Violent Offenders. The project took three years to complete and involved hundreds of people from the Native community in Alberta. It resulted in this four-part series on Family and Community Violence.
Rage is not about guns and knives, although they abound. Rage is about small children waiting alone in houses with no food, waiting days for drunken parents to come home, and hoping that their arrival won't be the beginning of another series of brutal beatings.
Part 1: Childhood Issues and Family Violence
When five Violent Federal Offenders explore the formative events of their childhood, their journey exposes us to the violence and abuse that they experienced as children. Through the retelling of their personal stories, we are able to glimpse some of the unresolved issues that helped to fuel the violence in each of their lives. Part 1 deals primarily with "Abandonment" and "Family Violence" as well as each man's personal reasons for making this series of programs on violence. Their hope is to help change the violent nature of our society, by changing the way that we parent our children.
Part 2: Adolescent Issues and Community Violence
In this second program about the origins of violence, five violent Federal Offenders document how their unresolved emotional experiences around "Death and Grief" "Racism" and "Community Violence" affected their adolescences. By recounting incidents from their past, they are able to relate to us how these same issues continued to influence their adult lives and their descent into anger and violence. The program expresses their firm belief that in order to stop the escalation of violence, we must first change the nature of our families and our communities.
Part 3: Young Adulthood and The Escalation of Violence
This program examines "Life on the Street" and the "Escalation of Violence" as it was experienced and understood by five violent Federal Offenders. It chronicles their social development from youthful victims to violent antisocial predators. The logic of the street is all pervasive and the road to adult violence is paved with the unguided mishaps of children who have been forgotten by their families and by society.
Part 4: Prison and The Cycle of Violence
People think that when a dangerous person is sent to prison, the violence ends there. But for those incarcerated it is just the beginning. Program 4 explores the nature of "Prison Violence" "Suicide" and the "Cycle of Violence" where victims become predators, and predators become victims. After being abandond by their families and communities, inmates then face the final abandonment by society. The series concludes with a plea and a warning: "Re-examine how our society looks after its children or face an inevitable escalation of violence".
Death and Grief
"I loved that little girl with all my heart...They had her on the table, she was dying... they were just waiting for the baby to die... My feelings was gone the day that little baby died." -John
Family Violence
"To me, after a while the beatings... They didn't bother me, I just gave up.. There was no crying, there was no tears... I got used to being hit." -Jack
Abandonment
"I think my hatred started when I was abandoned.. My mother making me believe she was gonna come get me... when in fact she abandoned me.. along with my dad." -Joe
The Street
"I had no friends, I had no lovers, I had no family... and that's how I had to live to live on the street.. I couldn't become emotionally bound to anyone.. and certainly not my self" -James
Prison Violence
"I know that my crossroads went backwards... I destroyed me.. To me I was an animal... I didn't care who I hurt or what I done.. To me, I felt the more people I hurt the better I was." -Howard
Contact Information
To purchase the Rage Video Program or to inquire about broadcast distribution of the Rage series contact:
Dave Cunningham
(780) 413-6541
dave@cunninghamcom.ca
Cunningham Communications
9139-79 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T6C 0R9