A Study of Procedural Justice & Juveniles: The Influence of School Resource officers (SRO Study)
Summary
The Justice Collaboratory explored the influence of school-based policing on adolescent safety and wellbeing, as well as on juvenile perceptions of the criminal justice system. This study focused on the use School Resource Officers (SROs) in American public schools and their impact on promoting school safety. A central consideration of the study was the notion that a procedural justice framework is optimal for understanding the impact of SRO treatment on student outcomes.
Specifically, the theory suggested that focusing on procedural justice as a predictor of adolescent outcomes would reframe discussions of juvenile misbehavior away from a focus on adolescent neurological deficits, such as poorer impulse control and emotion regulation skills, while simultaneously offering an intervention that shifts some of the burden off of struggling adolescents and on to the authority figures charged with their wellbeing. The study’s researchers present four suggestions to improve approaches to juvenile justice: 1.) undertaking a broad discussion of the unique capacities of adolescents for positive socialization, 2.) expanding the focus to all adolescents, and not just those who have had justice system involvement, 3.) examine all institutions with which adolescents regularly engage (e.g.: schools, social welfare administrations, housing authorities, etc.) as part of discussions on juvenile justice, and 4.) expand objectives to include the promotion of positive outcomes like social belonging and civic engagement, rather than solely crime reduction.
Approach
This project used large-scale survey data to connect different types and frequencies of contact with SROs to student outcomes as well as experimental methods to test the effects of procedural justice interventions for School Resource Officers.
Funding
The study was funded by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Researchers
Tom Tyler
Principal Investigator
Tom Tyler is the Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School and a Founding Director of the Justice Collaboratory.
Tracey Meares
Principal Investigator
Tracey Meares is the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor and a Founding Director of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School.
Yael Granot
Researcher
Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale Law School (currently Assistant Professor of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago)
Kalisha Dessources
Researcher
Doctoral Student, Yale University
Rachel Johnston
Researcher
Research Director, The Justice Collaboratory (currently Senior Research Scientist, CNA Corporation)