Dr. Charles Bell
Associate Professor
Office
SCH Schroeder Hall 447
Office Phone
Email
- About
- Education
- Awards & Honors
- Selected Research
Biography
Dr. Charles Bell is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences. His research explores how out-of-school suspension, seclusion, restraint, and school safety measures impact students, parents, and teachers. He also examines social factors that contribute to violent student-student and student-teacher altercations. Dr. Bell's work has been published in several scholarly and public engagement outlets such as Urban Education, Children and Youth Services Review, Journal of Crime and Justice, The Conversation, Kappan, Sociology Compass, etc. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) selected his book Suspended: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021) as a finalist for the 2021 C. Wright Mills Book Award.
Dr. Bell is a subject matter expert on school discipline, violence, and safety projects with the National Center for School Safety (NCSS). He has also collaborated on projects with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and served as an expert witness in state and federal school punishment cases.
Dr. Bell has been interviewed and cited by several news outlets such as NBC News, NPR, Detroit News, WGLT, Atlanta Black Star, Lakeshore PBS, Detroit PBS, WCBU Peoria, WMBD Central Illinois, and Aljazeera America.
His next book, No Restraint: Disabled Children and Institutionalized Violence in America’s Schools, focuses on how school seclusion and restraint impact families of children with disabilities. New York University Press will publish No Restraint in early 2026.
Current Courses
CJS 200.001 Contemporary Corrections
CJS 499.005 Independent Research For The Master's Thesis
CJS 287.015 Independent Study
CJS 400.005 Independent Study
CJS 471.001 Race, Violence, and Injustice
CJS 318.001 Schools, Crime, and Social Policy
CJS 291.014 Undergraduate Teaching Experience In Criminal Justice Sciences
Ph D Sociology
Wayne State University
MA School Psychology
Michigan State University
BA Psychology
Wayne State University
Impact Award
Illinois State University - University College
2024
CAST Outstanding Researcher Award - Pre-Tenure
College of Applied Sciences & Technology
2023
Division on People of Color and Crime Teaching Award
American Society of Criminology
2023
CAST Outstanding Teacher Award - Pre Tenure
College of Applied Science & Technology
2022
Finalist - C. Wright Mills Book Award
The Society for the Study of Social Problems
2021
Ruth D. Peterson Fellowship
American Society of Criminology
2017
Grants and Contracts
University Research Grant
Charles Bell.
College of Applied Sciences & Technology. July 1 2024
University Research Grant
Charles Bell.
Illinois State University. August 2021
Midwest Sociological Society Research Grant
Charles Bell.
Midwest Sociological Society. May 2019
Student Sustainability Research Grant
Charles Bell.
Illinois State University. May 2019
Summer Research Initiative Grant
Charles Bell.
African American Studies. May 2019
Teaching Innovation Grant
Charles Bell.
Illinois State University. March 2019
University Research Grant
Charles Bell.
Illinois State University. July 2019
Student Sustainability Research Grant
Charles Bell.
Student Sustainability Committee. December 2018 - December 2019
Book, Authored
No Restraint: Disabled Children and Institutionalized Violence in America’s Schools
Charles Bell.
(2026), New York University Press
Suspended: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety
Charles Bell.
(2021), Johns Hopkins University Press
Book, Chapter
Racialized mass incarceration in the U.S.A. as a form of macro victimization
Dawn Beichner, Miltonette Craig, Charles Bell.
(2021), 327-363, Macrovictimización, abuso de poder y victimología: Impactos intergeneracionales, Aranzadi
Special Yet Unequal: Race, Disability, and the Prison Pipeline for Black Youth in America
Charles Bell.
(2021), Racism By Another Name: Black Students, Overrepresentation, and the Carceral State of Special Education, Information Age Publishing
Journal Article
The Cost of Challenging School Seclusion and Restraint Practices for Parents of Black and White Children with Disabilities
Charles Bell, Miltonette Craig, Cresean Hughes, Sarah Franklin, Constantus Akuma-Zuma.
Disability Studies Quarterly, (2025)
Report of Unfair Discipline at School and Associations with Health Risk Behaviors and Experiences —Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Kathleen Krause, Charles Bell, Bajha Jordan, Michelle Carman-McClanahan, Izraelle McKinnon, Desmond Banks, Jorge Verlenden.
Centers for Disease Control, 69-80, (2024)
Resistance Pedagogy: Illuminating Marginalized Voices and Challenging Dominant Narratives
Charles Bell.
Protest, (2023)
Suspended, Restrained, and Secluded: Exploring the Relationship Between School Punishment, Disability, and Black and White Parents’ Health Outcomes
Charles Bell, Miltonette O Craig.
Children and Youth Service Review, (2023)
Continuity of the “code”: A review of the subcultures and informal social norms in prisons, streets, and schools
Charles Bell, Aaron Kinzel, Yoo Akakpo.
Sociology Compass, (2022)
Teaching beyond the Textbook: Integrating Formerly Incarcerated Individuals into Criminal Justice Learning Environments
Alena Harm, Charles Bell.
Journal of Criminal Justice Education, (2021)
I Want To Learn But They Won’t Let Me: Exploring the Impact of School Discipline on Academic Achievement
Charles Bell, Tiffany Puckett.
Urban Education, (2020)
Maybe if they let us tell the story I wouldn’t have gotten suspended: Understanding Black Students’ and Parents’ Perceptions of School Discipline
Charles Bell.
Children and Youth Services Review, (2020)
The Code of the School: Discipline, Respect, and Survival in Primarily Black High Schools
Charles Bell.
Journal of Crime and Justice, (2019)
Special Needs Under Siege: From Classrooms to Incarceration
Charles Bell.
Sociology Compass, 698-705, (2016)
The Hidden Side of Zero Tolerance Policies: The African American Perspective
Charles Bell.
Sociology Compass, 14-22, (2015)
Magazine/Trade Publication
Seeking safety in a ‘code’: Black students share how failing school safety measures lead to escalating violence and victimization
Charles Bell.
Kappan, (2022)
Newsletter
Poverty to PhD: An Insider Account on Structural Barriers That Affect Impoverished Students of Color
Charles Bell.
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Newsletter, 4, 26-28, (2018)
Race & Policing: A Legacy of Exclusion, Profiling, and Oppression
Charles Bell.
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Newsletter, (3), 71-75, (2017)
Newspaper, Article
1 in 10 teachers say they’ve been attacked by students
Charles Bell.
The Conversation, (2022)
Black parents say their children are being suspended for petty reasons that force them to take off from work and sometimes lose their jobs
Charles Bell.
The Conversation, (2021)
Teachers must often face student attacks alone
Charles Bell.
The Conversation, (2021)
School suspensions don’t just unfairly penalize Black students – they lead to lower grades and ‘Black flight’
Charles Bell.
The Conversation, (2020)
School suspensions don’t stop violence – they help students celebrate it
Charles Bell.
The Conversation, (2019)
Technical Report
Listening to middle school and high school youth: Report from a 2019 survey collaboration between Not in Our Town/Not in Our Schools United Way McLean County McLean County Middle Schools and High Schools
Karen Sue Stipp, Charles Bell, Deneca Winfrey Avant.
(2021)
Presentations
Conceptualizing Receipt of Unfair School Discipline As Betrayal Trauma
Charles Bell.
Bridging the Gap: Health Justice and Exclusionary, San Francisco, California, February 27, 2025
The Cost of Challenging School Seclusion and Restraint Practices for Black and White Families.
Charles Bell.
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Chicago, IL, March 20, 2024
How Does Seclusion and Restraint in K-12 Settings Affect Families of Children with Disabilities and Why Do Some Teachers Misuse These Approaches
Charles Bell.
American Society of Criminology Conference, Philadelphia, November 14, 2023
Suspended: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety
Charles Bell.
American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA, November 17, 2022
Continuity of the “Code”: Do the Inmate, Street, and School "Codes" Reinforce Each Other?
Charles Bell, Aaron Kinzel, Yola Akakpo.
American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA, November 16, 2022
Does the Code of the School Encourage Educator Targeted Violence
Charles Bell.
Society for the Study of Social Problems, Online, August, 2021
Revisiting The Code of the School in Primarily White High Schools
Charles Bell.
Midwest Sociological Society Conference, Online, March, 2021
They Just Want to Learn!!!! – The collision of school discipline and academic achievement
Charles Bell, Tiffany Puckett.
Black Doctoral Network, Online, October 29, 2020
The Hidden Consequences of School Punishment: An Insider's Perspective
Charles Bell.
Culturally Responsive Campus Community, Normal, IL, November, 2019
Exploring Black Students' and Parents' Perceptions of School Safety Measures
Charles Bell.
Society for the Study of Social Problems, New York City, NY, August, 2019
The Code of the School: Discipline, Respect, and Survival in Primarily Black High Schools
Charles Bell.
Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, IL, April 19, 2019
School Discipline Reform
Charles Bell.
School Discipline and Mass Incarceration Reform, Kalamazoo, Michigan, March 7, 2019
Beyond the Bars: Exploring the Lived Experiences of Incarcerated Individuals & Prison Reform Solutions
Charles Bell.
Facing Race Conference, Detroit, MI, November, 2018
Exploring the School-to-Prison-Pipeline & Parent Rights
Charles Bell.
Oakland County Parent Expo, Southfield, MI, October, 2018
Opportunities Denied: Advancing Conceptualization of Black School Discipline Disproportionality
Charles Bell.
American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, PA, November, 2017