Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Clarence Williamson

Abstract

AbstractSchool shootings are tragic events that receive immediate, intense, and immense media attention. In the aftermath of an attack, lawmakers and school administrators receive public pressure to provide the necessary resources to incorporate school security programs that seek to improve school safety. The School Sentinel Program (SSP) operating in one Midwest U.S. state’s school district allows school personnel or volunteers from the local community, once screened and trained, to act as armed guards on public school campuses. The SSP allows firearms on school campuses outside of the hands of school resource officers, and these policies have often been met with intense resistance to their incorporation. The intent of this qualitative case study was to explore the opinions of primary stakeholder groups, specifically parents, teachers, administrators, and local law enforcement, regarding the SSP. Schneider and Ingram’s social construction of target populations theory served as the theoretical foundation for this research. Semistructured interviews with seven stakeholders were the primary data collection method. The evaluative coding method was used to analyze the data. The key finding demonstrated that stakeholders viewed the SSP as a positive complement to the school’s security program once general operational parameters were explained by school leadership. Findings may lead to positive social change by encouraging school leadership to adopt school security programs, with popular stakeholder support, that can more effectively prevent and deter external threats to public schools.

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