Handbook on Restorative justice programmes

4.7 Mobilizing the community
Community participation and community building are two of the
intended overarching goals of restorative justice. Although it is possible to
set out the basic principles of restorative justice and to identify the
requirements for establishing, operating, and sustaining restorative justice
programmes, the specific form that restorative practices will take will nec-
essarily depend upon the specific environment (cultural, social, political)
in which the criminal justice system operates.
It has been observed that the question always arises of “who and what is
the community?” Bazemore and Umbreit have observed that “the way
community is defined and involved in restorative conferencing models is a
critical factor affecting the nature and extent of citizen participation and
ownership”.
48
As well, it has been noted that, in many approaches to com-
munity in restorative justice, there is a “romanticized and moralized view
of community that may prove problematic in practice”.
49
However, in
many contexts, the question of “who and what” is the community is not an
issue, as individual clearly understand what comprises their community. 
To a certain extent, the concept of community is open to definition and
must be approached very cautiously. Community mobilization starts with
an identification of those individuals and groups who are affected by con-
flicts and who in the community is in a position to participate in resolving
them. An understanding of the needs of the community as well as its
assets will provide an important foundation component to this process. In
some cases, it may lead to the realization that the communities most in
need of healing are also those least able to successfully mobilize them-
selves and to participate fully in community-based restorative processes.
50