A WAY WITH
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
(and a lot of other stuff
By Steven Savage
Archives available at The Way With Worlds Home Page
One thing that can get overlooked in worldbuilding is legal systems. It's easy to assume things are perfect, or corrupt, or "just like us," or some other simple classification.
In my opinion, writing about crime in a setting is harder than religion - it seems easier to tolerate some religious differences, but crime, often due to politicization, is a much different issue. Ask yourself how many political campaigns or debates you've seen where candidates and debates practically brand their opponents as supporting rapists and murderers.
Exactly. It's not easy.
In fact, I think popular culture and politics makes crime and law very, very difficult to write about - stereotypes, assumptions, easily taken offense, etc. all conspire against the writer. So, I'm going to illustrate a step-by-step way to look at issues of law, crime, and punishment in your setting.
First and foremost, drop your assumptions when writing. Explore. If you're going to address controversial and/or complex issues, be open to learning and don't force what you're doing. Otherwise, it'll read false.
And now . . .
STEP ONE: Reasons
Why are laws in your setting created? The answer, of course, is almost never one answer - there are multiple reasons, and reasons differ between laws and between lawmakers.
It's too simple to say "well we created this law to stop crime" - but who created it, why, and why do they think it will work? Was there popular demand, or is the law part of a theocracy or dictatorship? Do the people supporting it have ulterior motives?
Laws may be passed to control/regulate/guide behavior - but the motivations and reasons behind them can vary with your setting and with individual lawmakers.
STEP TWO: Passing
How to laws in your setting get implemented? Divine right or a parliament? No debate or endless discussion? Will it get altered in any way or are attempts made to keep laws in "pure" form? How is it communicated outside of the lawmaking body, group, or inner circle?
Laws need to be passed in forms people can understand - or there will be trouble down the road. This may be part of your plot, but if it isn't, make sure you understand the lawmaking process in your setting.
Once a law is made people and law enforcement bodies need to know about it - which is a challenge in itself.
A law has to be explained, communicated, and made clear - which can be a daunting task. What methods of communication are used and who do they reach? Will people understand? Can the law be twisted or misunderstood in the communication process. Will the right people know?
After all if you don't know about a law, you can't follow it or enforce it.
STEP FOUR: Enforcing
If the devil is in the details, you should start smelling brimstone right about now.
You've got a law, you've hopefully communicated it to people. Now, it has to be enforced.
Law enforcement is not an easy thing. It costs money and resources, it requires people or other entities to enforce it. You need to make sure it's done right, so feedback is required. In short, law enforcement takes work to do right - and even then, you may not get it right.
This is one of the areas of writing I find people mess up the most when dealing with crime and law. Its too easy to have "cops-catch-the-bad-guys" storylines and thrown-off plot elements. However, realistically, it's not that easy - you need the people to do the catching, the equipment to do the catching, and the opportunity.
Sounds like it's not as easy as you'd think? Ask people in law enforcement. And, remember, the story of a law doesn't end with enforcement.
Law stops crime.
Really? How do you know? Or which laws? Do some laws stop one crime and encourage others? Do people always like new laws?
Laws and their enforcement have repercussions, and they may not (and in my opinion often ae not) what people would expect. Aggressive law enforcement can spur mistakes and public anger. A badly-phrased law can lead to odd enforcement and sentancing. An ignornat law can produce a backlash, and harsh laws can produce a rebellion.
Do not assume simple, mechanistic law-obeyed-problem-solved behavior in any society. People are a lot more complex than that.
MYTHS TO AVOID:
When writing about law and crime in your setting, be aware of these myths:
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