TY - JOUR
T1 - Surveillance or Safekeeping? How School Security Officer and Camera Presence Influence Students’ Perceptions of Safety, Equity, and Support
AU - Lindstrom Johnson, Sarah
AU - Bottiani, Jessika
AU - Waasdorp, Tracy E.
AU - Bradshaw, Catherine P.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded in part by grants from the U.S. Department of Education to the Maryland State Department of Education and the National Institute of Justice ( 2014-CK-BX-0005 ) to Catherine Bradshaw.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/12
Y1 - 2018/12
N2 - Purpose: Target hardening, or increasing the use of security measures, is a frequently used response to perceived safety concerns in schools. Studies are mixed as to their effectiveness on students’ perceptions of safety and little is known about their influence on other aspects of school climate, particularly for minority students. This study will examine the association between observed security measures in secondary schools and students’ perceptions of safety, equity, and support. Methods: School climate surveys were completed by 54,350 students from 98 middle and high schools across the state of Maryland beginning in Spring 2014. Concurrent observations of the school physical environment, including security measures (i.e., officers and cameras), were conducted by trained outside assessors. Multilevel regression analyses examined the association between school security officers and cameras and students’ perceptions of safety, equity, and support, while controlling for school and neighborhood characteristics. Cross-level interactions explored differential effects of security measures for Black students. Results: Greater use of security cameras inside the school was related to lower perceptions of safety, equity, and support. A moderate level of security camera use outside the school was related to higher student perceptions of support. Security officer presence was associated with higher perceptions of safety. For black students, cameras were associated with elevated perceptions of safety and support relative to white students. Conclusions: Our findings may suggest that outside cameras and security may be perceived by students as safekeeping, whereas inside cameras may evoke feelings of being viewed as potential perpetrators who need surveillance.
AB - Purpose: Target hardening, or increasing the use of security measures, is a frequently used response to perceived safety concerns in schools. Studies are mixed as to their effectiveness on students’ perceptions of safety and little is known about their influence on other aspects of school climate, particularly for minority students. This study will examine the association between observed security measures in secondary schools and students’ perceptions of safety, equity, and support. Methods: School climate surveys were completed by 54,350 students from 98 middle and high schools across the state of Maryland beginning in Spring 2014. Concurrent observations of the school physical environment, including security measures (i.e., officers and cameras), were conducted by trained outside assessors. Multilevel regression analyses examined the association between school security officers and cameras and students’ perceptions of safety, equity, and support, while controlling for school and neighborhood characteristics. Cross-level interactions explored differential effects of security measures for Black students. Results: Greater use of security cameras inside the school was related to lower perceptions of safety, equity, and support. A moderate level of security camera use outside the school was related to higher student perceptions of support. Security officer presence was associated with higher perceptions of safety. For black students, cameras were associated with elevated perceptions of safety and support relative to white students. Conclusions: Our findings may suggest that outside cameras and security may be perceived by students as safekeeping, whereas inside cameras may evoke feelings of being viewed as potential perpetrators who need surveillance.
KW - School safety
KW - School security
KW - School surveillance
KW - Violence prevention
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.06.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.06.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 30197197
AN - SCOPUS:85052932926
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 63
SP - 732
EP - 738
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 6
ER -