Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ponzi, James D

Titel

A Qualitative, Formative Evaluation of Best Practices in the Mitigation of Active Shooters in Middle Schools

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Erscheinungsjahr

2016

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• School shootings have increased dramatically leaving serious and lasting effects on targeted schools, the surrounding community, and the nation; moreover, radical religious active shooters may be planning attacks on American schools. Despite the number of middle school active shooter plans, crisis response in schools remains inadequate without continued updating of best practices for middle school personnel. Updates in this study included expert suggestions on arming teachers in schools. In addition, expert opinions corroborated historical research that open school climates resulted in better school security than gun control or video game censorship. Despite advances that made schools safer, 80% of school resource officers (SROs) still did not believe their schools had adequate plans for traditional or terrorist active shooters, increasing the risk of future casualties and elevated psychological damage to victims. Regrettably, even if middle school staff opted for improved security plans, they would be frustrated by lists of redundant suggestions on emergency management websites. Thus, the problem addressed was the need for updated best practices resources enabling middle school staff to better prepare and plan for active shooter attacks. This research study provided that timely, accessible best practices resource with a qualitative study using one research question and 11 follow-up semi-structured interviews with national experts in the field. These experts were selected based on authorship of topical journal articles; books on school safety; and professional consulting in middle school security. The list of experts included a former U.S. Navy Seal captain, several authors of books on school shootings, and a PhD in Psychology; all involved with current school shooting issues. Participant responses to research and interview questions yielded timely best practices suggestions for middle school personnel and recommendations for future research to include the need for better ways to conduct reality-based training, methods to foster collaboration between practitioners and university researchers, and ways to improve decision making by school personnel. Key words: active shooters, middle schools, best practices