The Restorative Community (Week 3)

Ask anyone about the community they live in, and what they would change if they were in charge and it is likely that they will start to list rattle off a long list of solutions to problems that have seemingly plagued their community forever.  This type of thinking is emblematic of the traditional view of community development, that is, if a community is experiencing issues there are clearly defined parties at fault, and that said parties have created the problem through ignorance or incompetence.  This line of thinking inevitably leads to blame being assigned to various people within the community: politicians, city workers, neighbours, etc, which fosters distrust and animosity within communities, or, as Block calls it, a “retributive community”.  Community development theorists such as Peter Block and Angela Blanchard have proposed an alternative to this type of traditional thinking; the concept of “The Restorative Community”.

            

Block and others have proposed that in order to improve troubled communities, those within them must look inward, and find out what they themselves can offer to the community in which they live; thus shifting from thinking about problems to thinking about possibilities.  This shift in thinking then allows people to take pride in the contributions that they can make to their community, which instills a sense of belonging and togetherness among its citizens.

After learning more about this viewpoint I believe that it presents an interesting alternative to the traditional, usually negative, way in which people view problems within their communities.  The idea of thinking about possibilities rather than problems was a significant theme within the film Urbanized.  The theme itself was demonstrated most clearly in the rebuilding communities of New Orleans, which, due to the work of one community activist, began writing new possibilities for derelict buildings within their community.  Even though nothing may ultimately come of it, these types of efforts are important for improving the morale of communities, and bringing people together.  It seems to me that once people have successfully created a restorative community where they live, it will then become much easier to begin to look towards tangible problem-solving methods, as everyone will be working from a common base of respect and cooperation.  Solving a problem becomes much easier when you respect the people you are working with, and building a restorative community is the first step in rebuilding the tattered social fabric that exists within many troubled communities.