Aaron Kupchik

Professor, Sociology and Criminal Justice University of Delaware

  • Newark DE

Professor Kupchik studies school policing, school punishment, and racial inequality.

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The hidden consequences of school suspensions: Insights from 'Suspended Education'

School suspensions have long been a traditional disciplinary strategy used by educational institutions to address behavioral issues. Often perceived as a straightforward solution to handle disruptive conduct, suspensions remove the student from the school environment, theoretically allowing learning to proceed unhindered. University of Delaware sociology professor Aaron Kupchik explores school suspensions in his new book ‘Suspended Education: School Punishment and the Legacy of Racial Injustice.' He looks at how this practice is intrinsically tied to racial inequality and can have negative long-term impacts on students. He notes that beneath this seemingly effective measure, a multitude of unintended consequences lurk, some of which profoundly affect both the individual student and the broader community. And often, there is more harm than good done by this measure, particularly for students of color.  Kupchik has appeared in a number of outlets including Time magazine and Delaware Public Media. He can be reached by clicking on his profile.

Aaron Kupchik

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Biography

Aaron Kupchik is the author of several books including Homeroom Security: School Discipline in an Age of Fear, and The Real School Safety Problem: The Long-Term Consequences of Harsh School Punishment. His book, Judging Juveniles: Prosecuting Adolescents in Adult and Juvenile Courts, won the 2007 American Society of Criminology Michael J. Hindelang Award for the Most Outstanding Contribution to Research in Criminology. His work has been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Justice, and he has served in a variety of leadership roles within the American Society of Criminology. Professor Kupchik engages in translational research, in which he uses sociological research to better understand how we police and punish children, beneficial and harmful ways of doing so, and sources of inequality among youth, and to then engage with public audiences about these topics in discussions about policy. To help share these discussions with public audiences, he has published in news media outlets and public forums such as Youth Today, The Washington Post and The Conversation.

Areas of Expertise

School Safety
School Policing
School Discipline and Punishment
Racial Inequality in Education
Policing and Punishment of Youth in Communities

Media Appearances

More school districts are bringing back or adding police. Experts say it may not help

USA Today  online

2023-09-11

Aaron Kupchik, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, said adding officers in schools probably will bring "unintended negative consequences."

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The School That Calls the Police on Students Every Other Day

ProPublica  online

2022-12-17

“These students, I would imagine, feel like potential criminals under threat,” said Aaron Kupchik, a sociologist at the University of Delaware who studies punishment and policing in schools.

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Handcuffs in Hallways: School officers arresting children, young teens at alarming rates

CBS News  online

2022-11-15

"Policy makers have recognized that school punishment can be problematic, but no one wants to touch policing," said Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware Aaron Kupchik.

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Articles

The Third Administrator? Perceptions of School Resource Officers in Predominantly White Elementary Schools

Educational Administration Quarterly

2023

While studies of collective leadership tend to focus on administrators and teachers, schools have other staff present that contribute to leadership in ways that affect the students. We focus on school resource officers (SROs), which have become increasingly common in suburban, predominately White schools and elementary schools because, absent law enforcement responsibilities, little is known about SROs in these settings. We examine perceptions of SRO impacts while exploring differences across roles and between White and non-White participants.

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Generations of Criminalization: Resistance to Desegregation and School Punishment

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency

2023

Objectives: In this paper we refocus discussions of criminalization of students on structural racial inequality. We help explain racially disproportionate school punishments, while demonstrating the necessity for criminologists to examine how a historic legacy of racial oppression shapes contemporary punishments. More specifically, we explore the extent to which contemporary school punishment reflects a legacy of racial oppression and educational exclusion of Black students. Methods: Using nationwide data from multiple sources, we analyze how resistance to school desegregation, measured by the number of court cases contesting school segregation from 1952 − 2002, relates to suspensions from school and days missed due to suspension.

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Identifying the helpfulness of school climate: Skipping school, cheating on tests, and elements of school climate

Psychology in the Schools

2022

Prior research demonstrates the importance of school climate in shaping student behavior but tells us less about which aspects of school climate matter. In this paper we consider how distinct elements of school climate relate to skipping school and cheating on tests. Using survey and administrative data from several statewide Delaware sources, we perform a series of random‐intercept logistic regression models. We find that students in schools perceived to have a climate with high levels of structure and support are less likely to report cheating on tests.

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Research Grants

Understanding the Adoption, Function, and Consequences of School Resource Officer Use in Understudied Settings

National Institute of Justice

2016-2019

School Discipline and Security: Maintaining Safety and Legitimacy

National Science Foundation, Law and Social Sciences Division

2006-2008

Between Two Worlds: Prosecuting Adolescents in Juvenile and Criminal Courts

National Science Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, Law and Social Sciences Division

2001

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Accomplishments

Outstanding Academic Title Selection, ACRL Choice

2017

Distinguished New Scholar Award, American Society of Criminology, Division of Corrections and Sentencing

2010

Outstanding Service Award, American Society of Criminology, Division of Corrections and Sentencing

2009

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Education

New York University

PhD

Sociology

2003

New York University

MA

Sociology

2000

Boston University

BA

Psychology

1994

Affiliations

  • American Sociological Association : Member
  • American Society of Criminology : Member
  • Law and Society Association : Member