Date of Award

12-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Educational Leadership

Committee Chair

Benterah C. Morton, Ph.D.

Abstract

In response to mass school shootings and other violent acts committed on school grounds, some school systems have turned to introducing or expanding police presence on school campuses. However, police and school culture, expectations, and norms are not always compatible and are sometimes even at odds with each other. Excessive force by School Resource Officers (SROs); law-enforcement officers who work in the school setting, has prompted calls for police reform or complete SRO removal from school campuses. This research project sought to identify the activities of SROs in the state of Alabama, explore the level of meaning SROs perceive in their job, and determine if there is a corresponding statistical relationship between the level of meaning an SRO has in their job compared to their activities. The researcher utilized a quantitative correlational study to meet the research project objectives. An online survey was distributed to participants who were currently SROs in the state of Alabama. In all, 50 participants responded to the survey. All analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings in this study showed common activities of SROs as compared to previous studies. However, the amount of time spent on specific tasks viii concluded that SROs spent most of their time on mentoring activities, followed bylaw enforcement activities and teaching. The project also concluded a statistically significant relationship between time spent on mentoring and the SRO's overall perceived meaning in their job. This relationship was not found to be statistically significant when considering the time spent on teaching or law enforcement activities and the SRO’s overall perceived level of meaning on their job. These findings indicate the need for federal and state standards for SRO training to ensure that SROs are better equipped to serve as a mentor to students and not exclusively in a law enforcement capacity.

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