Tools- of Changes

Changing Climates of Conflict: A social network experiment in 56 schools

This 2016 study with 56 schools (some acting as controls) demonstrates the power of peer influence for changing climates of conflict and suggests which students to involve in those efforts. By engaging a small set of students to take a public stance against typical forms of conflict at their school, the intervention reduced overall levels of conflict by an estimated 30%.

Despite a surge in policy and research attention to conflict and bullying among adolescents, there is little evidence to suggest that current interventions reduce school conflict. Using a large-scale field experiment, the authors showed that it is possible to reduce conflict with a student-driven intervention. Network analyses revealed that certain kinds of students (called 'social referents') had an outsized influence over social norms and behavior at the school. By engaging this small set of students to take a public stance against typical forms of conflict at their school, the intervention reduced overall levels of conflict by an estimated 30%.