Restorative Justice Today: Practical Applications

Katherine S. van Wormer, MSSW, PhD, is professor of social work at the University of Northern Iowa. Her PhD is in sociology from the University of Georgia. Uniquely in the 1960s, van Wormer participated in two civil rights movements—one in North Carolina and one in Northern Ireland, where she taught English for several years. In the late 1980s, she moved to Norway for two years to practice alcoholism counseling. Dr. van Wormer has authored or co-authored over 20 books and 60 articles. Among the recent books she has authored or co-authored are Death by Domestic Violence: Preventing the Murders and the Murder-Suicides (2009, Praeger); Working with Female Offenders: A Gender-Sensitive Approach, (2010, Wiley & Sons); two volumes of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Micro and Macro Levels, Second Edition (2011, Oxford University Press); and Addiction Treatment: A Strengths Perspective, Third Edition (2012, Cengage). Her most recent books are Restorative Justice Today (2012, SAGE) and Women and the Criminal Justice System, Fourth Edition (2014, Pearson). Dr. van Wormer and her co-author have done numerous speaking engagements related to their 2012 book, The Maid Narratives: African American Domestic Workers and their Employers in the Jim Crow South (LSU Press). Lorenn Walker, JD, MPH, is a public health educator, restorative lawyer (experienced in civil, family, and both defense and prosecution in criminal law), an Associate Professor of Practice, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and director of Hawai'i Friends of Restorative Justice. Lorenn uses public health approaches to address and prevent injustice. She designs, implements, evaluates, and publishes the results of group and individual processes addressing conflict and reconciliation. She is a former Hawai'i state deputy attorney general and represented state agencies and employees. Later she defended indigent youth and adults in family court cases. She is the author of over 50 academic articles and several books including Restorative Justice Today: Practical Applications published by Sage. She earned her juris doctorate degree from Northeastern University School of Law, bachelors degree in communication, and masters degree in public health from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. At age 19 she earned her Montessori teacher certification to teach pre-school through third grade from the former St. Nicholas Training Centre for the Montessori Method. Lorenn's childhood and youth experiences have informed her work in criminal justice. She did not learn to read until she was 9, lived on her own when she was 14, dropped out of school at 15, was adjudicated as a juvenile offender at 16 and spent a short time in jail. She also was a teen parent, was seriously injured and almost murdered in an attempted rape at age 24. Lorenn completed law school at age 31 and today is a Senior Fulbright Specialist who has trained thousands internationally, nationally, and locally on conflict management and has facilitated hundreds of restorative meetings. Her work has been replicated in other states and countries. CNN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and NPR have interviewed her about her restorative justice work. She has a special interest in working with disenfranchised populations and improving the justice system.