The Relationship of Gender on the Perceptions of School Resource Officers Regarding Roles, Responsibilities, and School Culture and Collaboration

Abstract

School Resource Officers (SROs) play a critical role in establishing a safe learning environment for students across the nation. Though there are several studies related to SRO perceptions regarding their roles and responsibilities, a thorough literature review found no studies that looked specifically at the relationship of SRO gender to their perceptions. This study involved 53 SROs across three municipalities along the East Coast. Among several findings were that while overall the officers seem satisfied with their duties, gender does seem to have a relationship on the amount of time SROs spend participating in these duties and in their satisfaction related to the duties. Recommendations to school superintendents and principals include recognizing the potential advantage of selecting female SROs to serve on their campuses and establishing district-wide policies to annually assess the level of job satisfaction among SROs assigned to schools.Key words: community relations, school resource officers, school culture