Trauma-Informed Care in Schools: Perspectives From School Resource Officers and School Security Professionals During Professional Development Training

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Anjali J. Forber-Pratt ◽  
America J. El Sheikh ◽  
Luz E. Robinson ◽  
Dorothy L. Espelage ◽  
Katherine M. Ingram ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Justin MacLochlainn ◽  
Karen Kirby ◽  
Paula McFadden ◽  
John Mallett

AbstractStudents’ ability to reach their potential in school—both behaviourally and academically – is linked to their educator’s knowledge of child and adolescent development, childhood adversity and trauma, and how these impact learning and behaviour. However, teacher pre-service training programmes often offer inadequate instruction to meet the needs of trauma-impacted students. The purpose of the study was to investigate the benefits of professional development training in trauma-informed approaches on school personnel attitudes and compassion fatigue. There is a paucity of research on whole-school trauma-informed approaches and most have methodological limitations via the absence of a control group. In addressing this gap, the study is one of the first to utilise a control group in the research design to ensure findings are robust. The study utilised a quasi-experimental wait-list control pre-post intervention design to evaluate the efficacy of trauma-informed professional development training. We compared attitudes and compassion fatigue among 216 school personnel (n = 98 intervention, n = 118 comparison) utilising the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care (ARTIC) scale and the Professional Quality of Life scale (Pro-QoL). Quantitative data was supplemented by qualitative focus group data. Findings demonstrated that school-personnel within the intervention group reported significant improvements in attitudes related to trauma-informed care, and a significant decrease in burnout at 6-month follow-up. Our findings demonstrate that with minimum training on the dynamics of trauma, personnel attached to a school can become more trauma-informed and have more favourable attitudes towards trauma-impacted students and consequently be less likely to experience burnout.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel R. Paez ◽  
Roddrick Colvin

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore school resource officers (SROs) and their role in preventing, detecting and intervening in bullying incidents. Design/methodology/approach Using data from 214 survey respondents, the present study attempted to identify the personal and situational characteristics that help to understand when SROs are likely to identify and intervene in bullying incidents. Findings Taking a multivariate logistic regression approach, the results show that SROs – regardless of race, age, gender and education – who can identify instances of bullying are more likely to intervene to stop it. Research limitations/implications The implications of improved training for SROs are discussed, as are ways to enhance the integration of SROs into schools’ overall anti-bullying efforts. Originality/value Bullying and violence in schools have been a growing concern for school districts and SROs are being increasingly seen as critical components of anti-bullying programs.


2021 ◽  
pp. 016237372198929
Author(s):  
Samantha Viano ◽  
F. Chris Curran ◽  
Benjamin W. Fisher

Adopting school resource officers (SROs) is a popular response to school shootings. Using the advocacy coalition and multiple streams frameworks, we explore how school districts in one county formed a coalition with the Sheriff’s Department, adopting SROs in elementary schools following the Sandy Hook shooting. We describe how this coalition was bound together by shared beliefs on school safety and the goodness of law enforcement. The implementation activities of SROs related to the beliefs of the coalition, focusing on security and relationship building. The beliefs were not uniformly understood by SROs—many interpreted their role to include student discipline and managing behavior of students with disabilities. The findings show the utility of comparing policy adoption processes with implementation activities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-448
Author(s):  
Ethan M. Higgins ◽  
Suzanne Overstreet ◽  
Brandon Coffey ◽  
Ben W. Fisher

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