Restorative justice implies both process and outcome and recognizes that crime violates social relationships and that the proper goal of justice is to repair damaged relationships. To have a chance at restoration, crime victims must have the opportunity to choose to be involved in the justice process. Likewise, offenders must have the opportunity accept their responsibilities and obligations toward individual crime victims and the community as a whole. Program models that reflect restorative justice principles include reparative probation, family group conferencing, circle sentencing, and victim-offender mediation. The continuing movement toward restorative justice can only be enhanced if practitioners, advocates, and policymakers become more sensitive to and knowledgeable of cross-cultural dynamics. Differences between persons in varying cultures will likely be reflected in communication styles. Racism is viewed as a subset of cultural conflict, cultural skills needed by restorative justice practitioners are listed, and ways of resolving conflict are examined. 15 references