E-Book Overview
Coon s work answers questions about how some schools have chosen to address school safety through the use of security products. Using data from a national sample of U.S. public schools, the book examines the use of cameras, metal detectors, x-ray devices, and alarms in schools. Coon also considers whether security technology use in schools is consistent with previous research about the use of such products or theories about the adoption of innovation among organizations. Finally, she examines different goals of security technology based on whether the products are directed toward keeping unauthorized people out of the school or aimed at monitoring student behavior. Coon concludes that school and neighborhood characteristics are generally better predictors of technology adoption than levels of school crime and disorder.
E-Book Content
Criminal Justice Recent Scholarship
Edited by Marilyn McShane and Frank P. Williams III
A Series from LFB Scholarly
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Security Technology in U.S. Public Schools
Julie Kiernan Coon
LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC New York 2007
Copyright © 2007 by LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Coon, Julie Kiernan, 1970Security technology in U.S. public schools / Julie Kiernan Coon. p. cm. -- (Criminal justice recent scholarship) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-59332-200-7 (alk. paper) 1. Public schools--Security measures--United States. 2. Security systems--United States. I. Title. LB2866.C67 2007 371.7'82--dc22 2007023803
ISBN 9781593322007 Printed on acid-free 250-year-life paper. Manufactured in the United States of America.
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: SCHOOL SAFETY.....................................1 CHAPTER 2: TECHNOLOGY USE AND INNOVATION....................................................................9 CHAPTER 3: STUDYING SCHOOL SECURITY.........49 CHAPTER 4: SCHOOLS’ USE OF SECURITY TECHNOLOGY................................................................71 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR SCHOOL SECURITY...................137 REFERENCES................................................................155 INDEX.............................................................................161
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank all of the schools and police departments that participated in the research study on which this work is based. I am grateful to the faculty at the University of Cincinnati, especially Lawrence F. Travis III, James Frank, and Edward Latessa, and to Steven Lab from Bowling Green State University. I am also thankful to my sister, Amy Conrad, my parents, Christine and Wayne Kiernan, and my grandparents for their unending support. Finally, I dedicate this book to my husband, Jonathan Coon and our son, Theodore. You both made this book possible.
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CHAPTER 1
School Safety INTRODUCTION The prevention of crime and violence in schools continues to be a national priority. High profile, multiple fatality school shootings such as those that occurred in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania; Red Lake, Minnesota; Littleton, Colorado; Springfield, Oregon; Jonesboro, Arkansas; West Paducah, Kentucky; and Pearl, Mississippi captured the attention of the public. These types of violent events put pressure on legislators, law enforcement, and school administrators to take action (Garcia, 2003). In response to school tragedies, Congress passed the Gun-Free Schools Act (20 USC 8921) in 1994. This act included a requirement that all states receiving federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) enact laws to expel, for a minimum of o