Restorative Justice vs Punitive Justice

[JoelR]

So much of the inherent design of reports and member actions are punitive: they're designed to punish the user.  You ban the user, you suspend the user, you send an alert.  These are heavy handed actions that don't incorporate remediation.  It's swift justice, without giving the user the opportunity to present their side.  

This is hard.  A new user, or a member who is not aware of the social norms of the community, can make an honest mistake but a moderator moving fast can misconstrue a statement. It's also much easier to one-click suspend or ban than to reach out, identify specific parts of the community guidelines that were broken, and to provide a chance for a rebuttal.  How many times did you write something well intended, and the community moderator took a heavy handed action against you? 

In an ideal community, what would be some features that you'd like to see that are proactive and / or restorative? What are features that are designed to lead to healthier discussions and social norms? 

For example:

- Moderators can flag a topic as Sensitive, which will force a reminder box before any reply remind users of community guidelines. 

- Make it easier to identify new users or members who have not recently visited. 

- Present guidelines in a better, simpler manner 

What else? 

[Dilip]

The torture mode. I don't remember what you call it on different software. It makes the user miserable by slow page loading and other similar actions. I guess that is a good way to cool them down and cut the excitement out of the debate.