The amount of violent behavior in a society is determined by a number of social indicators which influence members of that society to condemn or justify violence. To develop a technology for the implementation of appropriate social action, therefore, one must have a thorough understanding of the nature of such social indicators. In order to achieve this understanding, a survey was conducted to assess attitudes and values regarding violence. Level of violence found justifiable was expressed in terms of 2 indexes: violence for social control and violence for social change. In general, American men were found to be prepared to justify substantial amounts of violence by police, and yet were fairly open to social change. Their answers were analyzed according to 7 major categories of variables: early and later background, values, identifications, definitions, beliefs about social issues, and perception of others. None of these variables, individually, proved a strong predictor of either violence for social change or for social control, but combined, they proved to have significant explanatory power. The results are discussed in detail and recommendations made for utilization of the findings in effecting social change. (KS)