Amid national protests over police brutality, debates over law enforcement in schools have been reignited. Though research has focused on the consequences of police presence in schools, few studies have investigated the roles of school police officers (SPOs) and whether the larger contexts influence them. Using a bioecological framework (Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006), we examined how historical, social and developmental contexts shape SPOs' views of their roles and the challenges and opportunities they encounter. Nineteen 90-min focus groups with 45 SPOs from one large school police department were conducted. Analysis revealed that SPOs perceived their roles as multifaceted, encompassing both formal (e.g., law enforcer, educator) and informal (e.g., confidante, counselor) roles. These roles were enacted differently depending on the school level and neighborhood context. Furthermore, the challenges and opportunities SPOs reported were also contextualized emerging from changes in school policies, the rise in technology and social media and increased professionalization of their police department. Implications for theory and research as well as for training and policy are discussed.

中文翻译：

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学校警察的角色：社会、发展和历史背景的影响

在全国对警察暴行的抗议中，关于学校执法的辩论重新点燃。尽管研究集中在学校警察存在的后果上，但很少有研究调查校警 (SPO) 的作用以及更大的背景是否会影响他们。使用生物生态学框架（Bronfenbrenner 和 Morris，2006 年），我们研究了历史、社会和发展背景如何塑造 SPO 对其角色以及遇到的挑战和机遇的看法。由来自一个大型学校警察局的 45 个 SPO 组成的 19 个 90 分钟焦点小组进行了。分析显示，SPO 认为他们的角色是多方面的，包括正式（例如执法者、教育者）和非正式（例如红颜知己、顾问）角色。这些角色根据学校级别和社区环境的不同而有所不同。此外，SPO 报告的挑战和机遇也来自学校政策变化、技术和社交媒体的兴起以及警察部门专业化程度的提高。讨论了对理论和研究以及培训和政策的影响。