Dr. Charles Bell

Associate Professor

Criminal Justice Sciences

Office

SCH Schroeder Hall 447

Office Phone

(309) 438-5968office
phone

cabell6@ilstu.eduemail

Website

http://www.suspendedbook.comwebsite

About
Education
Awards & Honors
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 Center 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

499.005Independent Research For The Master's Thesis

400.005Independent Study

308.001Race, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice

308.002Race, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice

318.001Schools, Crime, and Social Policy

291.008Undergraduate Teaching Experience In Criminal Justice Sciences

200.001Contemporary Corrections

200.002Contemporary Corrections

499.005Independent Research For The Master's Thesis

287.015Independent Study

400.005Independent Study

308.002Race, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice

291.014Undergraduate 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

Book, Authored

Bell, C. No Restraint: Disabled Children and Institutionalized Violence in America’s Schools. New York University Press (2026)

Bell, C. Suspended: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety. Johns Hopkins University Press (2021)

Book, Chapter

Beichner, D., Craig, M.O. & Bell, C. (2021). Racialized mass incarceration in the U.S.A. as a form of macro victimization. In Varona, G. (Ed.) Macrovictimización, abuso de poder y victimología: Impactos intergeneracionales (pp. 327-363). Cizur Mayor, Spain: Aranzadi.

Bell, C. Special Yet Unequal: Race, Disability, and the Prison Pipeline for Black Youth in America. Racism By Another Name: Black Students, Overrepresentation, and the Carceral State of Special Education. Information Age Publishing (2021)

Journal Article

Krause, K., Bell, C., Jordan, B., Carman-McClanahan, M., McKinnon, I., Banks, ., & Verlenden, J. Report of Unfair Discipline at School and Associations with Health Risk Behaviors and Experiences —Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Center for Disease Control (2024): 69-80.

Bell, C. Resistance Pedagogy: Illuminating Marginalized Voices and Challenging Dominant Narratives. Protest (2023)

Bell, C., & Craig, M. Suspended, Restrained, and Secluded: Exploring the Relationship Between School Punishment, Disability, and Black and White Parents’ Health Outcomes. Children and Youth Service Review (2023)

Bell, C., Kinzel, A., & Akakpo, Y. Continuity of the “code”: A review of the subcultures and informal social norms in prisons, streets, and schools. Sociology Compass (2022)

Harm, A., & Bell, C. Teaching beyond the Textbook: Integrating Formerly Incarcerated Individuals into Criminal Justice Learning Environments. Journal of Criminal Justice Education (2021)

Magazine/Trade Publication

Bell, C. Seeking safety in a ‘code’: Black students share how failing school safety measures lead to escalating violence and victimization. Kappan (2022)

Bell, C. Poverty to PhD: An Insider Account on Structural Barriers That Affect Impoverished Students of Color. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Newsletter 4 (2018): 26-28.

Bell, C. Race & Policing: A Legacy of Exclusion, Profiling, and Oppression. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Newsletter (2017): 71-75.

Newspaper, Article

Bell, C. 1 in 10 teachers say they’ve been attacked by students. The Conversation (2022)

Bell, C. Black parents say their children are being suspended for petty reasons that force them to take off from work and sometimes lose their jobs. The Conversation (2021)

Bell, C. Teachers must often face student attacks alone. The Conversation (2021)

Bell, C. School suspensions don’t just unfairly penalize Black students – they lead to lower grades and ‘Black flight’. The Conversation (2020)

Bell, C. School suspensions don’t stop violence – they help students celebrate it. The Conversation (2019)

Technical Report

Stipp, K.F., Bell, C. & Avant, D.W. (2021). Listening to Middle School and High School Youth: Executive Summary.

Presentations

Conceptualizing Receipt of Unfair School Discipline As Betrayal Trauma. Bridging the Gap: Health Justice and Exclusionary. University of California - San Francisco. (2025)

The Cost of Challenging School Seclusion and Restraint Practices for Black and White Families.. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. (2024)

How Does Seclusion and Restraint in K-12 Settings Affect Families of Children with Disabilities and Why Do Some Teachers Misuse These Approaches. American Society of Criminology Conference. (2023)

Continuity of the “Code”: Do the Inmate, Street, and School "Codes" Reinforce Each Other?. American Society of Criminology. (2022)

Suspended: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety. American Society of Criminology. (2022)

Does the Code of the School Encourage Educator Targeted Violence. Society for the Study of Social Problems. (2021)

Revisiting The Code of the School in Primarily White High Schools. Midwest Sociological Society Conference. (2021)

They Just Want to Learn!!!! – The collision of school discipline and academic achievement. Black Doctoral Network. (2020)

Exploring Black Students' and Parents' Perceptions of School Safety Measures. Society for the Study of Social Problems. (2019)

School Discipline Reform. School Discipline and Mass Incarceration Reform. Kalamazoo College. (2019)

Grants & Contracts

University Research Grant. College of Applied Sciences & Technology. Illinois State University. (2024)

University Research Grant. Illinois State University. Illinois State University. (2021)

Midwest Sociological Society Research Grant. Midwest Sociological Society. Other. (2019)

Student Sustainability Research Grant. Illinois State University. Illinois State University. (2019)

Summer Research Initiative Grant. African American Studies. Illinois State University. (2019)