Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Sociology & Criminal Justice Dissertations Summer 2017 School Resource Officers and the School-to-Prison Pipeline: A Mixed Methods Application of the Behavior of Law in Schools Caitlin Grace Lynch Old Dominion University, cglynch@odu.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/sociology_criminaljustice_etds Part of the Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Lynch, Caitlin G. "School Resource Officers and the School-to-Prison Pipeline: A Mixed Methods Application of the Behavior of Law in Schools" (2017). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Sociology & Criminal Justice, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/dene-8156 https://digitalcommons.edu/sociology_criminaljustice_etds/13 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Sociology & Criminal Justice at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons.
For more information, please contact digitalcommons@odu. SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS AND THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE: A MIXED METHODS APPLICATION OF THE BEHAVIOR OF LAW IN SCHOOLS by Caitlin Grace Lynch B. June 2008, University of California, Santa Barbara M. May 2012, California State University, Fresno A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY August 2017 Approved by: Allison T.
May (Member) ABSTRACT SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS AND THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE: A MIXED-METHODS APPLICATION OF THE BEHAVIOR OF LAW IN SCHOOLS Caitlin Grace Lynch Old Dominion University, 2017 Director: Dr. Chappell The implementation of school resource officer programs has been a popular response to school-based violence in the United States. Parents, school officials, and policy makers believe that police presence makes students and staff feel safer on campus, deters school-based crime and violence, and creates positive relationships between youth and the police. However, there is a growing concern that school resource officers hypercriminalize trivial student misbehavior, contribute to a culture of youth punishment and control, and are instrumental in facilitating a link between schools and the juvenile justice system.
Despite the rapid rate at which school resource officer programs have expanded over the last two decades and the significant amount of federal and state funds that have been allocated for their implementation, very little is known about how school resource officers operate in schools across the United States. The current work aims to gain a better understanding of how school resource officers spend their time, the extent to which school characteristics explain the variation in their behaviors, the factors influencing their involvement in school discipline, and how their behavior is shaped by the presence and availability of schools’ informal social control measures. Since school resource officers are likely to remain a permanent fixture in schools across the country, it is necessary to better understand their role within the school setting. Utilizing data from the Department of Education’s School Survey on Crime and Safety (2015), supplemented with qualitative interviews from a sample (n=20) of school resource officers, the current research aims to fill this gap in the literature by applying Donald Black’s (1976) Behavior of Law as a theoretical framework.
Some findings were consistent with the notion that school resource officers engage in behaviors that may contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline, but other findings suggested that many school resource officers are willing to seek alternative social control measures in an effort to keep students out of the juvenile justice system. This highlights the importance of selecting officers for this assignment who are oriented toward working with youth and are committed to using alternatives to formal juvenile justice sanctions, while only referring students to the juvenile justice system as a last resort. Additionally, these findings suggest that although schools are considered to be a microcosm of society, the law oftentimes manifests itself differently within schools relative to the rest of society due to the intimate nature of the school setting. Further, it is important that police departments and school districts maintain a shared understanding of the roles of school resource officers and that schools should not be policed in the same way in which streets are policed.
Finally, school resource officers should be expected to take advantage of the readily available alternative social control measures that are unique to the school setting so as not to perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline. iv Copyright, 2017, by Caitlin Grace Lynch, All Rights Reserved v This dissertation is dedicated to my family. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My interest in Criminology was initially sparked by a Juvenile Justice class I took from Dr. Victor Rios in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the summer of 2007.
His commitment to empowering “at-promise youth” in the United States was what motivated me to pursue a career as a police officer and eventually a school resource officer. During the time in which I was a police officer I was fortunate enough to have had supportive faculty in the Department of Criminology at California State University, Fresno, who oftentimes allowed me to take classes on independent study so that I could continue my career in law enforcement while pursuing my master’s degree. Additionally, I was lucky to have supervisors within the McFarland Police Department who understood the importance of obtaining my master’s degree and were flexible with my scheduling so that I could continue my education. I would not be in the position to write this dissertation if it were not for the mutual support and understanding of these two institutions, and I am particular thankful to Dr.
Yoshiko Takahashi and Corporal Steve Chisholm. My decision to move across the country and leave my family, friends, and career in law enforcement behind to pursue a Ph. in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University required a tremendous leap of faith, but upon arriving in Norfolk and being greeted by so many new friends reaffirmed that I had made the right choice. To Leslie, Lindsey, Justin, and Travis, thank you for welcoming me into the doctoral program and for your continued support and friendship through every stage of this process.
To my cohort mates Stephen and Richard, knowing that I had you both by my side through coursework, comprehensive exams, the dissertation, and all of the other big moments made this journey so much smoother and a heck of vii a lot more fun. To Caitlin, Jess, and Eric, so many of my favorite memories from my time at ODU were those that were spent with you, and the thought of having gone through it all without you is unimaginable. Finally, to Asha, Brian, Frank, Joy, Kaitlyn, Phil, and Sarah, although you arrived in this program after me you were all so supportive through many of my “milestones”, despite having yet to experience them for yourselves. To all of the doctoral students who have come and gone through this program and have shared your time, friendship, and love with me, thank you all for four years of cook outs, beach trips, Super Bowl parties, our “Straight Outta Norfolk” fantasy football league, birthday celebrations, Halloween festivities, ringing in New Year after New Year, and celebrating in the street with me when the San Francisco Giants won the 2014 World Series.
I am so very thankful for the moments I have spent with you; so much in fact that the thought has frequently occurred to me that perhaps I have had too much fun in graduate school. If indeed this is the case, thank you all for having too much fun with me. I have been incredibly fortunate to have had the support and mentorship of so many wonderful professors in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice throughout my time at ODU. Mona Danner, you have been a constant source of kindness and inspiration throughout the last four years, and have advocated for me and so many others when we have needed it most.
Thank you for your support, your time, your friendship, and your love. We are all so lucky to have you at the helm. Travis Linnemann, thank you for reaching out to me when I was straight out of the policing profession and new to academia. Your compassion and understanding during this time was critical in my acclimation to the doctoral program.
Scott Maggard, I would not be in the position to have a quantitative analysis in my dissertation were it not for your statistics class my first year of the program. Thank you for your patience, time, and helpfulness. Libby Monk-Turner, you were instrumental in the publication of viii my very first peer-reviewed article, and many of the topics covered in your qualitative methods class were essential for the qualitative portion of my dissertation. Randy Myers, your Youth, Crime, and Justice class encouraged me to think more critically about the policing of youth in the United States, which proved to be a central theme of my dissertation.
Many thanks to you and your wonderful family for your kindness and support these last four years. Vanessa Panfil, you have been there for me in a big way through so many of the key moments during my time at ODU, and I am so grateful for your friendship. Our department is so lucky to have you. Dawn Rothe, thank you for encouraging me to think and write critically about the police from a law enforcement perspective.
The conversation that you had with me at the 2015 American Society of Criminology meeting was one of the most important pieces of professional advice that I have ever received from anyone. Ruth Triplett, thank you for making this department home for me and so many other graduate students. You so frequently go out of your way to make us all feel welcomed, valued, and appreciated. Thank you for being the wonderful person that you are to so many people.
I have been privileged to have worked under the supervision of such a wonderful dissertation committee. David May, I have admired and respected your work on school resource officers for so long, and having you serve as the external committee member of my dissertation has been an incredible honor. Thank you for the expertise that you have shared with me, and all the time that you devoted to ensuring that I put forth the very best product possible. I am so fortunate to have had your knowledge and support throughout this entire process.
Randy Gainey, thank you for your guidance throughout these last four years, particularly during my quantitative analyses. I am so appreciative of the time and patience you devoted to making sure that I fully understood the methodology and put forth thorough and statistically sound ix analyses. Thank you especially for your kindness and compassion during the times that I felt frustrated and for making me feel capable during the times that I doubted myself. To my dissertation chair Dr.
Allison Chappell, you always expected so much more from me than I have ever expected from myself, and I am so much better for having worked under your direction. You have given me four years of your knowledge, patience, time, and commitment, and I will forever be grateful for you and the bar that you set so very high. No matter where I go and what I do, so much of it will be attributed to you and what you believed that I was capable of doing long before I knew it myself. I am so fortunate to have had you as my dissertation chair.
Finally, I am so very lucky to have such a loving extended family which has supported all of the dreams that I have had these last 31 years. I am so fortunate not only to come from a family who values higher education but who routinely fights for women’s right, marriage equality, the environment, Black Lives Matter, and many other social issues in an effort to advocate for a more just world.