An evaluation of police officers in schools as a bullying intervention

Devlin, Deanna N.; Santos, Mateus Rennó; Gottfredson, Denise C.

doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2018.07.004

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The results from these studies are therefore inconclusive because observed differences in school crime level may be due to SRO effects or to decisions about where to place SROs. A handful of studies either directly controlled for pre-SRO crime levels using a longitudinal sample from the SSOCS (Devlin, Santos, & Gottfredson, 2018;Na & Gottfredson, 2013) or used propensity score matching to equate schools with and without SROs on a wide array of variables that are likely to be correlated with prior crime levels (Swartz, Osborne, Dawson-Edwards, & Higgins, 2016). These studies provide more credible estimates of the effects of SROs on crime because they help to rule out the selection artifacts that arise from the reality that schools selected for police officer deployment likely have higher crime rates to begin with than schools that are not selected.…”

Section: Effects On School Crimementioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime

Gottfredson

Crosse

Tang

et al. 2020

Criminology & Public Policy

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We examined the effects of an increase in school resource officer (SRO) staffing on schools in a sample of 33 public schools that enhanced SRO staffing through funding from the Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program and a matched sample of 72 schools that did not increase SRO staffing at the same time. In longitudinal analyses of monthly school-level administrative data, we compared the treatment and comparison schools on disciplinary offenses and actions. We found that increased SROs increased the number of drug-and weapon-related offenses and exclusionary disciplinary actions for treatment schools relative to comparison schools. These negative effects were more frequently found for students without special needs. Policy Implications: The study findings suggest that increasing SROs does not improve school safety and that by increasing exclusionary responses to school discipline incidents it increases the criminalization of school discipline. We recommend that educational decision-makers seeking to enhance school safety consider the many alternatives to programs that require regular police presence in schools.

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Section: Effects On School Crimementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In summary, the more rigorous studies of SROs and CIS grant awards to date found that SRO presence was related to increased recording of drug crimes, crimes involving weapons, and serious violent crimes (Na & Gottfredson, 2013; Owens, 2016; Swartz et al., 2016), but not to bullying (Devlin et al., 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime

Gottfredson

Crosse

Tang

et al. 2020

Criminology & Public Policy

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“…Seven other studies with particularly strong external validity used statewide data from a single US state (Anderson, 2018; Barnes, 2008; Fisher, 2016; Sorensen et al, 2021; Sullivan, 2013; Weisburst, 2019; Zhang, 2019). Another six studies drew on data that were nationally representative in their original form, but used a subset of data that made the data no longer nationally representative (Devlin & Fisher, 2021; Devlin & Gottfredson, 2018; Devlin & Santos, & Gottfredson, 2018; Fisher & Devlin, 2020; Na & Gottfredson, 2013; Owens, 2017). The remaining studies had weak external validity, focusing on a set of schools that was not evidently representative of a broader population.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

School‐based law enforcement strategies to reduce crime, increase perceptions of safety, and improve learning outcomes in primary and secondary schools: A systematic review

Fisher,

Petrosino,

Sutherland

et al. 2023

Campbell Systematic Reviews

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BackgroundSchool‐based law enforcement (SBLE) has become a common intervention. Although SBLE is meant to make schools safer, critics suggest it may not accomplish this purpose, and may have unintended negative consequences such as increasing students’ exclusionary discipline or contact with the criminal justice system. There may also be secondary effects related to perceptions of the school or student learning.ObjectivesThe purpose of this review is to synthesize the literature evaluating the use of SBLE, including outcomes related to (a) crime and behavior problems; (b) perceptions of safety; and (c) learning.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search to identify studies that examined outcomes associated with SBLE use. Eligible studies used experimental or quasi‐experimental designs; included samples of students, teachers/staff, schools, or school districts; reported on a policing strategy focused on crime prevention or school safety that did not involve officers teaching a curriculum; included a measure that reflects crime and behavior problems, perceptions of safety, or learning; and were in a primary or secondary school. Following a multi‐stage screening process to identify studies eligible for inclusion, we estimated a series of meta‐analytic models with robust variance estimation to calculate weighted mean effect sizes for each of three main categories of outcomes and commonly occurring subsets of these categories. We examined heterogeneity in these estimates across features of the primary studies’ design.ResultsThe search and screening process yielded 1002 effect sizes from 32 reports. There were no true experiments, and the quasi‐experiments ranged from strictly correlational to permitting stronger causal inferences. SBLE use was associated with greater crime and behavior problems in studies that used schools as the unit of analysis. Within this category, SBLE use was associated with increased exclusionary discipline among studies that used both schools (g = 0.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.02, 0.27]) and students (g = 0.003, 95% CI [0.002, 0.003]) as the unit of analysis. SBLE use was not associated with any measures of crime or violence in schools. SBLE use was associated with greater feelings of safety among studies that used schools as the unit of analysis (g = 0.18, 95% CI [0.13, 0.24]), although this estimate was based on only seven effect sizes from two correlational studies. All the other models, including those examining learning outcomes, yielded null results. None of the moderators tested showed meaningful relationships, indicating the findings were consistent across a variety of study design features.Authors’ ConclusionsThis study's findings provide no evidence that there is a safety‐promoting component of SBLE, and support the criticism that SBLE criminalizes students and schools. Although we found no evidence of differences across methodological features, risk of bias in the primary studies limits our confidence in making causal inferences. To the extent that the findings are causal, schools that invest in strategies to improve safety will likely benefit from divesting from SBLE and instead investing in evidence‐based strategies for enhancing school safety. Schools that continue to use SBLE should ensure that their model has no harmful effects and is providing safety benefits.

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“…Por otro lado, los estudiantes que reciben programas de instrucción socioemocional, que incluye entre otras habilidades la de resolución de conflictos, suelen mejorar, reduciendo el número de incidentes intimidatorios y en general de victimización (Nickerson et al, 2019). Algunos estudios sugieren que para reducir las agresiones, los programas deben centrarse en enseñar habilidades sociales (Devlin et al, 2018;Gómez-Ortiz et al, 2017). En los últimos años los programas de aprendizaje socioemocional han mostrado tener éxito particularmente con escolares con discapacidades (Espelage et al, 2015(Espelage et al, , 2016Rose y Gage, 2017;Rose et al, 2016).…”

Section: Escolares Con Necesidades Especiales Bullying Y Habilidades Socialesunclassified

Los Predictores Psicosociales del Bullying Discriminatorio Debido al Estigma Ligado a las Necesidades Educativas Especiales (NEE) y la Discapacidad

Rodríguez-Hidalgo

Pincay

Payán

et al. 2021

Psicología Educativa

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Discriminatory bullying based on differences in special educational needs or disability threatens the healthy development of adolescents. The study aims to find out whether self-esteem, empathy, and social skills are predictors of this discriminatory bullying (aggression and victimization). A sample of 1,640 adolescents aged 11 to 20, of which half are from Spain (48.8% male and 51.2% female) and half from Ecuador (49.3% men and 50.7% women), participated in the study by completing a battery of self-report questionnaires. The results of the structural equation models show that in both countries victimization and aggression are predicted negatively by self-confidence and positively by self-deprecation; assertiveness is a positive predictor of aggression and a negative predictor of victimization. Differences are observed between the two countries in the role of social skills (communication and conflict resolution) and empathy. These results are discussed in relation to the nature of this discriminatory bullying and preventive educational programs.

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An evaluation of police officers in schools as a bullying intervention

Cited by 15 publications

References 36 publications

Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime

Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime

School‐based law enforcement strategies to reduce crime, increase perceptions of safety, and improve learning outcomes in primary and secondary schools: A systematic review

Los Predictores Psicosociales del Bullying Discriminatorio Debido al Estigma Ligado a las Necesidades Educativas Especiales (NEE) y la Discapacidad

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