School Safety Concerns and Solutions: A Qualitative Analysis of U.S. School Psychologists’ Perspectives
In the present study, we analyzed qualitative survey data from 538 school psychologists across schools in the United States regarding their perceptions of school safety issues and potential strategies to address school safety. There are only a few studies exploring the experiences and perspectives of school psychologists that have been based on large-scale qualitative data. Using inductive coding, three themes for safety concerns emerged: (a) aggressive behaviors from students, (b) mental and behavioral needs, and (c) limited staffing. Three themes also emerged for potential solutions: (a) professional development/training, (b) school-family-community relationships, and (c) threat assessments. These findings from school psychologists have implications for addressing structural issues to prevent school violence in research and practice. Policy recommendations to inform resource allocation and improve school safety are discussed.
Authors
- Sawyer Hogenkamp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4416-0447)
- Andrew Martinez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2816-8134)
- Linda A. Reddy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8314-2810)
- K. Watson
- Eric M. Anderman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3473-0971)
- Frank C. Worrell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7122-527X)
- Yinuo Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7463-8889)
- Ron Avi Astor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0625-7061)
- Chaoyue Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6952-2910)
- Vanessa R. Warri
- Casie H. Morgan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1515-6548)
- Luz E. Robinson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5269-8522)
- Dorothy L. Espelage (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0658-2067)
- Susan D. McMahon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3710-8811)
- Danielle Dunn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7447-5365)
- Natalie Fensterstock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4731-4256)
- Anthony A. Garcia
- Hannah Garner
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- DePaul University (US)
- Medical University of South Carolina (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- The Ohio State University (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Behavioral Sciences
- Published
- 2025-02-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15020228
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Education Discipline and Inequality
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 44.63
Funders
- University of California Berkeley
- DePaul University
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill