A local community activist has called on the community to support an alternate approach to criminal justice called restorative justice.

"The new restorative justice paradigm answers to the need for the community to feel reassured that what (crime) happened was wrong, that something is being done about it and that steps are taken to discourage its reoccurrence,'' said the Coalition for the Protection of Children's Kit Swainson.

The rethinking of the criminal justice system had been caused by a widespread sense of dissatisfaction, she noted.

"The public is fearful and angry. Practitioners are weary and frustrated.

Costs of current policies in the current judicial system are not sustainable over long periods. Victims are often re-victimised in the process,'' said Ms Swainson.

But the new system involves the victim, the offender and the community, she continued.

"The victim has the opportunity to express their feelings about what was done to them, the offender has the opportunity to take ownership of the hurt that he/she has caused and make amends to the victim and related members of the community, through problem-solving means, arrive at ways in which resolution can best be achieved,'' Ms Swainson said.

She noted that work on developing the theory and practice of restorative justice had been carried out for more than a decade but the potential it had to transform the criminal justice system could only be accomplished with a firm grounding in the community.

Ms Swainson pointed out: "Therefore it is not possible to implement a comprehensive restorative system without community ownership and support.'' She recognised that the shift to restorative justice was just a part of a larger shift in social institutions from power-based structures and practices to relationship-based structures and practices.

And she listed a number of processes where the shift was occurring in a bid to "give more power for finding solutions to those most directly involved -- rather than a distant authority -- and decrease reliance on fear of consequences as the primary mechanism of achieving behaviour''.

"Community based policing is based on building community relationships and using proactive problem solving instead of brute force responses designed to demonstrate power over others,'' Ms Swainson said.

"Community based policing focuses on a teaching/learning model rather than the old model of punishment,'' she said.

Meanwhile the field of social services was moving to shift from a deficit model, in which an outside power rescued an individual or community from weaknesses, to a capacity building model, in which individuals or communities rescue themselves based on their own strengths and relationships in the community, continued Ms Swainson.

She added: "In the field of education, a new approach to discipline called judicious discipline involves students in setting standards and maintaining them.

"The total quality management transformation in business and industry is fundamentally a shift from motivating workers based on fear and power over them to motivating workers based on relationships and an opportunity to shape their own work lives,'' said Ms Swainson.