This growing consciousness is resisted by the elements of the state, particularly the media and academe, in an effort to maintain the colonial way of framing harm and with it, the continued economic and political colonization of Western Canada. The potential for true restorative approaches to justice seem to be greater if restorative justice is located outside of the state, especially outside of the government. The social organization outside of the state which seems to hold the most potential is the community. The community is the social organization of appropriate scale to concern itself with justice issues. It is small enough to permit meaningful contact and large enough to contain diversity.
Communities can accumulate and direct sufficient resources toward common problems and goals.
The cultural and environmental uniqueness of peoples and land can find attention in communal settings. The advantages of community are described in a wide range of literature and need not be repeated here except to say that despite the intuitive and intellectual appreciation of community, it does not receive attention equal to it's potential as an alternative for forms of justice. This may be because the state supports institutions that study social phenomenon and the institutions that define and deliver social services. This is not to say that the government in particular does not understand the power in the social organization of the community, especially as a symbol of creativity and caring. It places this symbol in front of many government services in the fields of health , education and welfare.