Trauma-Informed Care in Schools: Perspectives From School Resource Officers and School Security Professionals During Professional Development Training. Issue 2 (3rd July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Forber-Pratt, Anjali J.; El Sheikh, America J.; Robinson, Luz E.; Espelage, Dorothy L.; Ingram, Katherine M.; Valido, Alberto; Torgal, Cagil
• Is Part Of: School psychology review. Volume 50:Issue 2/3(2021)
• Page Start: 344
• Page End: 359
• Publication Date: 2021-07-03
• Subjects: police -- adverse childhood experiences -- school climate; Amanda Nickerson; School psychology -- Periodicals; Educational psychology -- Periodicals; Psychopédagogie -- Périodiques; Educational psychology; School psychology; Schoolpsychologie; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 370.15
• DOI: 10.1080/2372966X.2020.1832863
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2372-966X

Abstract

Abstract: School resource officers (SROs) and school security professionals (SSPs) have increased presence in schools, yet little is known about how they view the importance of their relationships with students and the broader school climate. This article is part of a larger study of an online professional development module on trauma-informed care and is focused on the qualitative reflection responses from 95 participants from three large school districts in the southeast United States. Informed by the levels of ecological systems theory, three salient themes were identified by the researchers: how SSPs and SROs describe school climate, how they respond to students with traumatic experiences, and how their perspectives may be affected by their differing roles. Findings indicate that SROs and SSPs benefited from this training on trauma-informed care because they expressed learning new strategies and feeling better equipped to serve and support students with known or unknown adverse childhood experiences. Impact Statement Qualitative responses from this group of engaged school security professionals and school resource officers show the importance of intentional training on how to effectively create schools that are physically and psychologically safe spaces for all students. We learned that trauma-informed approaches are often not explicitly taught to school security professionals, despite their close work with students in schools. School security professionals believe that being empowered with this knowledge has the potential to influence how they will work with students in the future. It is ethically important to train school staff to work with students in an equitable and informed manner. Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2020.1832863.