【阅读选择】The violence within a society is controlled through institutions of law. The more developed a legal system becomes, the more society takes responsibility for the discovery, control, and punishment of violent acts. In most tribal societies the only means to deal with an act of violence is revenge. Each family group may have the responsibility for personally carrying out judgment and punishment upon the person who committed the offense. But in legal systems, the responsibility for revenge becomes depersonalized and diffused. The society assumes the responsibility for protecting individuals from violence. In cases where they cannot be protected, the society is responsible for imposing punishment.
The function of legal systems, according to the passage, is ______.