Arrest Decision Making by School Resource Officers

Kerrin C. Wolf, Arrest Decision Making by School Resource Officers, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2013, Forthcoming

Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2013-28

16 Pages Posted: 9 Mar 2013 Last revised: 21 Sep 2013

Date Written: March 1, 2013

Abstract

Over the past two decades, school resource officers (SROs) have become an increasingly common fixture on the American educational landscape. Despite their prominence in schools, significant investigation into their arrest-making behavior has not occurred. This paper uses responses to a statewide survey of SROs in Delaware to explore SRO arrest decision making. Guided by Black’s general theory of arrest, it analyzes the effect of the school context on SROs’ arrest decisions. The SROs’ survey responses indicate that the factors highlighted by Black as influential to arrest decisions remain prominent in SRO arrest decision making, but the school context influences their arrest decisions in a variety of critical ways.

Keywords: arrest decision making, school resource officers, school discipline, juvenile justice

JEL Classification: K10, K14

Suggested Citation

Wolf, Kerrin, Arrest Decision Making by School Resource Officers (March 1, 2013). Kerrin C. Wolf, Arrest Decision Making by School Resource Officers, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2013, Forthcoming, Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2013-28, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2229287 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2229287

Kerrin Wolf (Contact Author)

Stockton University ( email )

101 Vera King Farris Drive
Galloway, NJ 08205
United States

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