how would criminal activity be dealt with in a stateless society?

[SluggishJ82]

This society's expensive/violent punishment, no matter how ineffective it might be, is still a hell of a lot more useful than a system where the only consequence of slaughtering other humans is to have people not want to hang out with you. Large apes of humans dont beat the [censored] out of smaller wealthier citizens on a daily basis for a reason, and that reason is this violent/expensive law enforcement system. I'm sure tons of apes wouldnt think twice to bust up any of us on a whim if the only thing stopping them was a dishonorable reputation.