1. Multicultural Implications of Restorative Justice Potential pitfalls and dangers. Based on the research by Umbreit & Coates

2. The Office of Victims Advocates Victims decide whether or not to participate Both victim and offender must both be treated with respect

3. Victims are granted a choice in: Location Timing Structure of session A right to stop participating at any stage in the process

4. People from different cultures & world views have different ways of: Speaking behaving

5. Natural cultural differences can easily lead to: Misunderstandings Destroy the best efforts at conflict resolution End the hopes of restoring and repairing relationships

6. The key to progress in RJ is: Increased sensitivity to cross-cultural issues Dynamics that affect RJ programs

7. Often the cultural background of victim, offender and program staff member are different Great danger can occur with overgeneralizations

8. Proximity – comfortable with standing closer together: AfricansArabs Black AmericansSouth Americans IndonesiansThe French Latin Americans

9. Body Movements: Posture Smiling Eye contact Laughing Gestures And many others…..

10. Examples: Asians may by puzzled or offended by a White person who smiles or grimaces Whites may conclude that an Asian person has no emotion.

11. Eye contact American Indians: Disrespectful to look an elder or person of authority in the eye Blacks make more frequent eye contact when speaking than when listening Whites tend to make eye contact when listening than when speaking

12. Paralanguage Hesitations Inflections Silences Volume Pace of speaking

13. Silence To American Indian culture it is valued as sacred Each human must have the opportunity to: Reflect To translate into words Shape the words

14. What silence means to others: French = agreement Asian = token of respect or politeness Whites= time for them to talk

15. Volume Asians – speak softly Whites – founder than Asians Arabs – prefer higher volume

16. Density of language Blacks – sparse and concise Asians & American Indians – will use many more words to say the same thing

17. Other defining characteristics that can have an impact Race Socioeconomic status Ethnicity Gender Religion Sexual orientation Rural vs. urban residence

18. Characteristics of culturally skilled Restorative Justice Practitioners There are a total of five All are necessary for RJ

19. #1 CSRJ is aware and sensitive to his or her cultural heritage Values and respects differences in culture

20. #2 CSRJ is aware of their own values and biases

21. #3 CSRJ is comfortable with the differences that exist Between themselves and clients In terms of race & beliefs

22. #4 CSRJ is sensitive to circumstances that may dictate referral of a minority client to a member of their own race/culture Or to another CSRJ

23. #5 CSRJ acknowledges and is aware of their own racist attitudes, beliefs and feelings

24. Other things to remember: Do not make quick assumptions about others Look at the world through the eyes of another Listen to key informants

25. Meaningful mediation requires: Anticipating possible problems CSRJ may need to help other participants understand each other’s viewpoints Communication styles Prior to mediation session