Ben FisherAssociate Professor of Civil Society & Community Studies

My work focuses on school criminalization, which refers to the ways that the strategies, technologies, and logics of the criminal legal system appear in schools. I focus on issues including police in schools, school discipline, and schools’ use of a variety of security measures. Much of my research in these areas addresses issues of racial equity with an eye toward making schools more just and equitable places for students. I use a variety of research methods to study school criminalization, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods.

Read my research profile

Selected Publications

Tocci, C., Stacy, S. T., Siegal, R., Renick, J., LoCurto, J., Lakind, D., Gruber, J., & Fisher, B. W. (2024). Statement on the effects of school-based law enforcement in school settings. American Journal of Community Psychology, 73(3-4), 360-377. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12723

Fisher, B. W., Petrosino, A., Persson, H., Guckenburg, S., Fronius, T., Benitez, I., & Earl, K. (2023). School-based law enforcement strategies to reduce crime, increase perceptions of safety, and improve learning outcomes in primary and secondary schools. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 19(4), e1360. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1360

Fisher, B. W., & Widdowson, A. O. (2023). Racial and ethnic differences in the consequences of school suspension for arrest. Criminology, 61(3), 622-653. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12344

For a full list of publications, see Fisher’s CV.

Featured Media

• The New York Times, Schools Bring Police Back to Campuses, Reversing Racial Justice Decisions
• CBS News Boston, Question Everything: Do metal detectors at schools really work?
• Teen Vogue, Some Districts That Removed Police From Schools Brought Them Back
• The Badger Herald, UW, UWPD consider mandatory active shooter training