Restorative Justice Principles in an Asian American Community

Source: (2008) In Katherine Van Wormer, Restorative Justice Across the East and the West. Manchester, UK: Casa Verde Publishing. Pp. 47-61.

“This chapter will share challenges and lessons learned of implementing restorative justice in an Asian American community in Northern California. The Project was successful because it was a collaborative effort with a focus on cultural competency. However, the project faced a number of challenges, several of which were specific issues of serving a population with an Asian heritage. Most notably, Asian families preferred to interact with the Youth Workers as an authority figure, not as a collaborator. Also, there was a tension between public discussions of family affairs, and the stigma and loss of face associated. The authors will discuss how these challenges were addressed and the types of trainings needed to build their capacity to do so as an attempt to help other youth workers apply these lessons learned to their own youth communities.” (Abstract)