Schools are often encouraged to foster a positive climate to reduce adolescent violence, but evidence on the effectiveness of this approach varies significantly. This study investigates the roots of this variation by testing alternative hypotheses about how positive school-level climate and school-level student friendship network density interact to shape adolescent violence perpetration. Research on informal social control and network closure suggests that the violence-reducing association of positive school climate will be enhanced among schools where students are more densely tied through their friendships. Research on youth conflict and subversion of control suggests the opposite. These hypotheses are tested with data from Waves I-II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 11,771; 49% Female; Age mean = 15.04, SD = 1.60). Consistent with the conflict/subversion hypothesis, analyses indicate that the inverse association between positive school climate and adolescent violence is only evident among schools with a very low density of friendship ties. Strikingly, however, there is evidence that a more positive school climate is associated with increases in violence among youth attending schools with a high density of friendship ties. These findings suggest that efforts to reduce violence by fostering cohesion among youth in their schools and other social contexts can be undermined by youth network processes.

学校经常被鼓励营造积极的氛围，以减少青少年暴力，但这种方法有效性的证据差异很大。本研究通过测试关于积极的学校氛围和学校学生友谊网络密度如何相互作用以塑造青少年暴力行为的替代假设来调查这种变化的根源。对非正式社会控制和网络封闭的研究表明，在学生通过友谊联系更紧密的学校中，积极的学校氛围与减少暴力的联系将会增强。对青年冲突和颠覆控制的研究表明了相反的情况。这些假设通过国家青少年至成人健康纵向研究第 I-II 波的数据进行了检验（n = 11,771；49% 女性；年龄平均值 = 15.04，SD = 1.60）。与冲突/颠覆假说一致，分析表明，积极的学校氛围与青少年暴力之间的负相关关系仅在友谊关系密度非常低的学校中才明显。然而，引人注目的是，有证据表明，更积极的学校氛围与就读于友谊关系密度较高的学校的青少年暴力行为的增加有关。这些发现表明，通过在学校和其他社会环境中培养青年之间的凝聚力来减少暴力的努力可能会受到青年网络进程的破坏。