The Effects of School Police Officers on Victimization, Delinquency, and Fear of Crime: Focusing on Korean Youth

• Author: Sungil Han,Nadine M. Connell
• Published date: 01 September 2021
• Date: 01 September 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20946933
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20946933

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2021, Vol. 65(12) 1356 –1372

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20946933

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Article

The Effects of School Police

Officers on Victimization,

Delinquency, and Fear of

Crime: Focusing on

Korean Youth

Sungil Han1 and Nadine M. Connell2

Abstract

As a response to rising concerns about school violence, the Korean National

Police Agency began recruiting specialized police officers, called Korean School

Police Officers (KSPOs), in hopes that they would reduce in school behavioral and

delinquency problems. The current study provides insight into the effects of crime

prevention activities in Korean schools, using the 2014 Korean Youth Victimization

Survey to advance the knowledge about the role of the KSPOs and their potential

impact on delinquency reduction. Results indicate that the presence of KSPOs did

not have any significant association with criminal victimization or fear of victimization.

In some cases, the presence of KSPOs is associated with higher property crime by

students. Implications of these findings for understanding KSPOs and their roles in

preventing school crime and improving school environments are discussed. In addition,

we discuss how lessons learned from the U.S. may influence future advancements in

KSPO approaches and vice versa.

Keywords

school resource officers, school policing, juvenile delinquency, fear of crime

Introduction

As a response to rising concerns about school violence, school administrations and

police departments have implemented a variety of strategies to enhance school safety

1The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA

2Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia

Corresponding Author:

Sungil Han, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080-3021, USA.

Email: sungil.han@utdallas.edu

946933IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X20946933International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyHan and Connell

research-article2020

Han and Connell 1357

(Brown, 2006). As a result, numerous crime prevention programs, from highlighting

educational functions to enhancing the physical security of the school environment,

have been introduced in recent years (Gottfredson et al., 2002). One increasingly com-

mon intervention has become the presence of police officers in school, otherwise

known as School Resource Officers (SRO), especially as increased funds have pro-

vided the opportunity for school and police partnerships (Devlin & Gottfredson, 2018).

In South Korea, school crime has become a serious social problem, especially in the

form of bullying; after several students committed suicide due to problems with peers,

school administrators have begun to actively adopt various intervention and preven-

tion strategies, including school policing (Hong et al., 2014; Kim, 2015). Similar to

schools in the U.S., but customizing to Korean culture, the Korean National Police

Agency began recruiting specialized police officers who have a degree in counseling

or youth education in hopes that they would more successfully help deal with school

problems in 2012 (Kim & Hwang, 2016). However, in contrast to trends in the U.S.,

only a handful of studies have attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of this program.

Most studies to date, primarily appearing in Korean language journals, discuss the

purpose and process of program implementation from a conceptual perspective but

have refrained from outcome evaluation.

In this respect, the current study provides insight into the effects of crime preven-

tion activities in Korean schools, focusing on KSPOs for two reasons. First, this study

attempts to offer empirical evidence of the impact of school policing strategies that are

similar to various activities in the U.S., while considering the unique Korean school

context. The data were retrieved from the Korean Youth Victimization Survey in 2014,

which measured various aspects of school environments and crime victimization

experiences of Korean students. Thus, this study introduces school crime prevention

initiatives launched in a foreign county and subsequent effects on school safety. For

example, KSPOs mainly focus on counseling roles, such as quick response to school

crime reports and proper care of victims. Second, this study examines how the pres-

ence of KSPOs in schools affects various school safety-related indicators, such as

school crime victimization and fear in schools. This allows us to better understand the

effects of school policing strategies on several aspects of the school environment,

which will help inform school policing strategies in Korea and beyond.

Background

School crime prevention activities have been developed based upon various consider-

ations, including characteristics of the school, individual-level experiences, peer group

experiences, and criminogenic commodities (Gottfredson et al., 2002). Among the

numerous crime prevention programs, school resource officer programs have been

welcomed due to expected reductions in school crime and violence.

Despite the growing popularity of SROs in the U.S., the role and responsibilities of

SROs have not been clearly defined (Devlin & Gottfredson, 2018). The major duties of

SROs, in general, are to ensure school safety through various law enforcement-oriented

activities, to solve delinquency problems in schools, and to offer educational programs