Subcultural Values and Violent Delinquency: A Multilevel Analysis in Middle Schools

This study extends research in the subculture of violence tradition by examining the simultaneous effects of individual- and aggregate-level proviolence values on violent behavior. With data from a survey of 3,690 seventh-grade students nested within 65 Kentucky schools, we found that an initially observed between-school effect of violent values on in-school violent behavior is not a contextual effect. Rather, the between-school effect of violent values is primarily a reflection of the individual-level association between violent values and violent behavior. Moreover, we found that the effect of individual values remains evident after measures of impulsivity and exposure to violent peers are controlled. No evidence of cross-level interaction effects involving individual values and the school-level violent value context was found.