School Resource Officers: What is the Impact?

Item

Media
JillianHarris_PP_2024.pdf
Title
School Resource Officers: What is the Impact?
Creator
Jillian Harris
Degree Name
professional_project
Master of Science in Justice Studies
Project Type
professional_project
Date
6/15/2024
Abstract
School resource officers (SROs) are a common presence in U.S public school systems today. The use of SROs is a perceived solution to safety threats and discipline for students. High numbers of SROs are integrated in public schools without extensive investigative research supporting their effectiveness and impact on students. To measure students’ feelings of safety and student outcomes as it intersects with SRO presence, public data from Oregon Department of Education is analyzed. Student offense data in 12 public school districts in Oregon is collected. Each school district is analyzed to identify current SRO presence, or if the SRO was removed during the school year 2021-2022. Student offense data is compared across the school years examined to synthesize any impacts SROs have on student offense and discipline data in the specific rural and urban school districts selected. Findings of the research conclude lower numbers of student offenses in school districts where SRO presence was removed in the 2021-2022 school year. The findings also show higher numbers of student offenses for non-white identifying students. These findings provide nuanced insight into the complex relationship between law enforcement in public schools and how it impacts the students. Measuring potential negative impacts to students who experience discipline and law enforcement contact is an essential part of determining how impactful SRO presence is for public school students.
Rights
https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en
Western Oregon University Library has determined, as of 6/29/2024, this item is in copyright, which is held by the author. Users may use the item in accordance with copyright limitations and exceptions, including fair use. For other uses, please ask permission from the author.
Language
English
Type
Text