The same benefit you mentioned regarding small towns is also their biggest downside. In your example, it 100% matters who is doing the punching. From personal experience, if a girl is raped by the high school’s star athlete, it is the girl who is ostracized by the town for going to the police. Small towns can be incredibly dangerous to outsiders (with outsider meaning any family without at least three generations worth of full-time residence)
The same benefit you mentioned regarding small towns is also their biggest downside. In your example, it 100% matters who is doing the punching. From personal experience, if a girl is raped by the high school’s star athlete, it is the girl who is ostracized by the town for going to the police. Small towns can be incredibly dangerous to outsiders (with outsider meaning any family without at least three generations worth of full-time residence)
Yep, the reason people developed police forces is to try and get away from what amounts to little more than mob justice.