Aaron Kupchik
Professor, Sociology and Criminal Justice | University of Delaware
Newark, DE, UNITED STATES
Professor Kupchik studies school policing, school punishment, and racial inequality.
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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 (5)
School Safety
School Policing
School Discipline and Punishment
Racial Inequality in Education
Policing and Punishment of Youth in Communities
Media Appearances (9)
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."
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.
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.
COVID is making it harder for schools to practice restorative justice
Fortune online
2022-01-19
“In the ’90s and 2000s, schools started cracking down on minor misbehavior,” said Aaron Kupchik, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware. “These behaviors posed no threat to student safety—talking back, cursing, dress code violations. Suspension became the normal reaction, and we started flooding police officers into schools that were already safe, despite no evidence that they prevent crime and some evidence that they can do harm.”
Why many districts are struggling over whether to keep officers in schools
NBC News
2021-08-07
Aaron Kupchik, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, said schools are not amenable to eliminating officers because even if their presence does not help students, they benefit other groups.
Policing our schools | UDaily
University of Delaware online
2020-07-27
"There is no consistent research showing that SROs are able to prevent student crime, or even school shootings,” Kupchik said. “Most high-quality studies show either no effect or that the presence of an SRO is associated with more student crime and misbehavior."
Where Lynching Terrorized Black Americans, Corporal Punishment In Schools Lives On
Huffington Post online
2020-07-21
The idea for the study came out of discussions between Kupchik, who studies racial inequality in school punishment, and Geoff Ward, a professor of African and African-American Studies at Washington University St. Louis, who studies histories and legacies of racialized violence.
Communities Push to Remove Police From Schools
KQED online
2020-06-23
Guests: Aaron Kupchik, sociology professor, University of Delaware, and author of "Homeroom Security: School Discipline in an Age of Fear."
Defund police in schools? How the movement got momentum after George Floyd's death
USA Today online
2020-06-11
Since then, law enforcement in schools seemed like the one thing that district leaders would not change, said Aaron Kupchik, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware.
Articles (5)
The Third Administrator? Perceptions of School Resource Officers in Predominantly White Elementary Schools
Educational Administration Quarterly2023 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.
Generations of Criminalization: Resistance to Desegregation and School Punishment
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency2023 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.
Identifying the helpfulness of school climate: Skipping school, cheating on tests, and elements of school climate
Psychology in the Schools2022 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.
Protecting the flock or policing the sheep? Differences in school resource officers’ perceptions of threats by school racial composition
Social Problems2022 Law enforcement officers (often called school resource officers or SROs) are an increasingly common feature in schools across the United States. Although SROs’ roles vary across school contexts, there has been little examination of why. One possible explanation is that SROs perceive threats differently in different school contexts and that the racial composition of schools may motivate these differences. To investigate this possibility, this study analyzes interviews with 73 SROs from two different school districts that encompass schools with a variety of racial compositions.
Fear of a black (and poor) school: Race, class, and school safety policy preferences
Race and Justice2022 School security and punishment practices have changed throughout the United States since the 1990s. Yet we know little about public support for these practices nor how this support varies when considering different students. The current study uses an experimental approach to assess public preferences for school punishment and security practices and how public opinion relates to student body race and class, as well as attitudes about crime. Results indicate that participants prefer security measures for schools with more low-income students and mental health services for schools with more high-income students.
Research Grants (4)
Understanding the Adoption, Function, and Consequences of School Resource Officer Use in Understudied Settings
National Institute of Justice $623,047
2016-2019
School Discipline and Security: Maintaining Safety and Legitimacy
National Science Foundation, Law and Social Sciences Division $144,871
2006-2008
Between Two Worlds: Prosecuting Adolescents in Juvenile and Criminal Courts
National Science Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, Law and Social Sciences Division $9,874
2001
Between Two Worlds: Prosecuting Adolescents in Juvenile and Criminal Courts
National Institute of Justice Graduate Research Fellowship $14,942
2001
Accomplishments (5)
Outstanding Academic Title Selection, ACRL Choice (professional)
2017
Distinguished New Scholar Award, American Society of Criminology, Division of Corrections and Sentencing (professional)
2010
Outstanding Service Award, American Society of Criminology, Division of Corrections and Sentencing (professional)
2009
Michael J. Hindelang Book Award, American Society of Criminology (professional)
2007
Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award, American Society of Criminology (professional)
2007
Education (3)
New York University: PhD, Sociology 2003
New York University: MA, Sociology 2000
Boston University: BA, Psychology 1994
Affiliations (3)
- American Sociological Association : Member
- American Society of Criminology : Member
- Law and Society Association : Member
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