Lawless as in no government, no policing, or what? A small group of people could effectively self-regulate if the incentive for cooperation were desirable enough. In fact, I'd argue that this is the case with or without enforceable laws. But a) if the incentive to commit "crimes" (in the sense of actions that were detrimental to society) grew great enough to begin to eclipse social incentives for cooperation within society, or b) if the society became large enough to include a significant number of mentally disturbed individuals, this social contract would fall apart. A police-able set of laws really only adds a finite amount of internal force from within a society to promote cohesion. Either of the main problems listed above cause a society to begin to collapse if left unaddressed, even with plenty of laws and regulations.

It's hard to imagine a completely lawless society. Even in the cases (historical) of remote societies with few inhabitants, there's always a "leader", and presumably that leader "lays down the law" and punishes those who fail to adhere to his (or her) commandments. * Or...the leader is soon replaced. * These are the most "lawless" sorts of societies that I can imagine. Cases like the Bounty's John Adams. He, along with 8 other mutineers, 6 Tahitian men and 14 Tahitian women, reached Pitcairn Island, but when discovered **19** years later, only Adams, 9 of the women, and several children (sired by several of the men) were still alive. * Another sort of "lawless" society is something like the prospecting towns of various remote gold and silver rushes in history. Such societies tend to follow the principle of "might makes right" and "every man for himself", and often have more the nature of trading posts than of actual, functioning societies. Every prospecting "team" has to protect itself against claim-jumpers and outright highwaymen, and even the "general store" or "trade post" or "saloon" owner is responsible for his own security or pays for guards. Success depends on the "society" producing enough ore (wealth) to make it worthwhile for traders to risk continued trade there.