A Crisis in Confidence: A Collective Case Study Approach to School Security Through Teacher Experiences

The purpose of this collective case study was to understand and discover the set of hard and soft deterrents and how they work to increase the confidence for teachers at middle schools of various socioeconomic levels. The main theory was the risk theory by Sabine Roeser as it refers to how humans operate when faced with risk and uncertainty in their everyday lives. The study was a collective case study with teachers of various experience levels across three sites. The sites were three different middle schools across a northern Virginia suburban county; schools were one of low socioeconomic status, middle socioeconomic level, and high socioeconomic level. These sites were sourced for a focus group of teachers, interviews of the same teachers, and artifact analysis of security-related artifacts. Data collection was based on key terms, language, and themes focused on security deterrents and their impact on teachers' feelings and confidence in remaining safe at work. Findings within the study indicated that while a combination of hard and soft deterrents was beneficial, it was ultimately hard deterrents that were the most preferred. Other non-security specific preferences also played a role in teacher confidence and job satisfaction. A conclusion that deterrents like school resources officers, security cameras, and locked doors provided the most preferred sense of safety and security within the northern Virgina county.