Dr. Charles Bell

Biography

Dr. Charles Bell is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences. His research explores African American students' and parents' perceptions of out-of-school suspension, school safety measures, and law enforcement officers throughout Michigan and Illinois. Dr. Bell's research builds upon the street code theory and suggests that schools fail to protect students, leaving them vulnerable to victimization. To protect themselves, students use violence strategically to gain popularity, respect, toughness and establish a reputation that deters as much confrontation as possible. His work also confirms that school suspension negatively impacts Black students' achievement, harms parents' employment, and periodically violates state code of conduct guidelines. Dr. Bell's forthcoming book, "Code of the School: Punishment, Violence, and Victimization in Public High Schools" expands upon this work and is under contract with Johns Hopkins University Press. It is scheduled to be released in Fall 2021.

Dr. Bell has been interviewed and cited by several news outlets such as Atlanta Black Star, The Conversation, WGLT, WDET Detroit, Aljazeera America, Michigan Center for Youth Justice, and Detroit PBS.