The research was prompted by reports that gang behavior at some schools has been adversely affecting academic programs and the learning environment. The selection of 19 high schools in East Los Angeles County was influenced by the area's rapidly increasing teenage Latino population and the Latino gang epidemic already rampant in Los Angeles city schools. The study conceptualized principal leadership behavior as derived from two separate but related theoretical strands: theories about the multidimensionality of leadership and contingency theories about interaction between leadership behavior and organizational context. Multidimensional theories include behavior focused either on organizational goals or social and emotional aspects of the organization. Contingency theory asserts that different situations require and often produce different leadership behaviors. The study variables were school social context, four principal leadership behaviors, and seven pupil attitudes that define school climate. Results show that patterns of principals' leadership behavior vary and that the relationships between these patterns and climates differ in schools with different social contexts. Principals in hostile schools exhibited significantly more control orientation and significantly less administrative task orientation than did principals in safe schools. 3 footnotes, 16 references, and 19 tables