With a record of an average 119 television channels available to each household, television dominates American life (MediaBuyerPlanner). This wide assortment of television gives viewers many different realities to imitate, like a small child following and obeying its parent. One of the leading television shows in our society is the CSI franchise, with three different extensions. CSI, and shows similar to it, portray the criminal justice system in a negative light, which causes confusion between reality and fiction. Television is a means of entertainment, yet its influence on today’s generation is powerful and enchanting. Television shows centered on criminal justice are implausible portrayals of reality that create unrealistic expectations of evidence in the courtroom, as well as creating superfluous fear of murder for the viewers.
The procedures depicted of the criminal justice system on television are complex, inaccurate, and implausible portrayals of what actually occurs. These shows do not show the planning, timing, and effort that is put into the maintenance of a crime scene. Investigators show up, take some photographs, and continue to the lab for results in a matter of minutes (Forensic Science Degree). Television leaves out the uneventful procedures that are essential in a real crime scene. They also neglect to show how much time is spent on each case, which can take months or even years to finish. There are many techniques and procedures which seem to be forgotten or simplified in the shows. Crime scenes require a variety of people, including the skills of photographers, sketch artists, evidence recorders, and other team members. Intricate notes and sketches of the crime scene give all of the details requ...
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Demands Concerning Scientific Evidence: Does the ‘CSI Effect’ Exist?” Vanderbilt Journal of
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...the public opinion of government trustworthiness. Studies have not been able to clearly define if the CSI effect has had an actual influence on the outcome of trials. However surveys indicate many possible jurors believe they are more knowledgeable about criminology after watching the shows. CSI viewers may become more knowledgeable about forensic science and investigation processes but that knowledge does not affect the outcome of the criminal justice process.
Crime is a common public issue for people living in the inner city, but is not limited to only urban or highly populated cities as it can undoubtedly happen in small community and rural areas as well. In The Real CSI, the documentary exemplified many way in which experts used forensic science as evidence in trial cases to argue and to prove whether a person is innocent or guilty. In this paper, I explained the difference in fingerprinting technology depicted between television shows and in reality, how DNA technology change the way forensics evidence is used in the court proceedings, and how forensic evidence can be misused in the United States adversarial legal system.
The amount of Psychological research about the impact of social stereotypes on juror’s decisions is increasing. Previous studies have looked at everything from the effect of differences in social categories (Deaux, K, 1984) to the gender of the perpetrator (e.g., Clark, H.L., & Nightingale, N.N., 1997; Mallozi, J., McDermott, V., & Kayson, W . A., 1990). The current study questions whether or not male defendants are always more likely to be found guilty compared to female defendants, or does the match with the crime type matter? Jurors are randomly selected citizens who are given the task of determining whether someone is guilty or not, based solely on the evidence provided by the court. (Functions and Duties of a Juror, n.d.) However, jurors, who like all other humans, have the potential to be biased, meaning that their final decision can sometimes be influenced by many factors.
In Richards Willing’s “CSI effect” the author tells the reader how, as a result of crime scene shows’ popularity, the misconceptions they create, and the combining of real life events with TV fantasy, crime scene shows have affected jurors and the oucomes of court cases. The shows’ popularity has increased peoples’ interest in forensic science and has caused workers and students to transfer into the field. The second effect crime scenes created is the misconception concerning when to use forensic tests, as well as misconceptions about the speed and accuracy of forensic workers and machines in tracking and identifying the culprit. Willing tells of a murder trial in Arizona in which the defendant’s bloody coat was listed as evidence, but was not tested. Although the defendant had already told investigators that he was at the scene of the crime, with the jacket, jurors asked for forensic DNA evidence linking the defendant to the bloody coat and to the crime scene. The juror’s exposure to crime scene shows had given them knowledge of forensic tests, but not knowledge of the proper use of the tests. Crime scene shows mix real life with TV fantasy. According to willing’s studies, highly attractive forensic workers and stunning suspects, along with very neat crime scenes on crime scene shows deemphasize the real life violence and brutality of crime. Similarly, tv reality shows have influenced people’s ideas about real life and real relationships through the effects of image, misleading information, and popularity.
Adcock, James M., and Stein, Sarah L. Advances in Police Theory and Practice: Cold Cases:
The twelfth juror is relying on cognitive dissonance to cause discomfort in the jurors’ way of thinking,
Most of the time people cannot comprehend why people that work in the forensic department are sometimes overwrought with anxiety when they have a serial killer case brought into their lab. These forensic scientists have these feelings due to knowing that this could potentially help advance technology. Over the years, serial killers have unpremeditatedly helped further advance the criminal investigation process by unintentionally leaving things behind for a forensics team to analyze. When the team finally solves these cases, it continually propels things such as DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) analysis, finger print techniques, and not to mention the investigation process itself.
Lyman, D. Michael; Criminal Investigation, The Art and Science; 3rd edition, 2002 Prentice Hall. Pgs. 188-200.
Otto, A. L., Penrod, S. D., & Dexter, H. R. (1994). The Biasing Impact Of Pretrial Publicity On Juror Judgments. Law and Human Behavior, 18(4), 453-469.
In the following literature review, scholarly and peer-reviewed journals, articles from popular news media, and surveys have been synthesized to contribute to the conversation pertaining to forensics in pop culture in the courtroom and the overall criminal justice system. This conversation has become a growing topic of interest over just the past few years since these crime shows started appearing on the air. The rising popularity of this genre makes this research even more relevant to study to try to bring back justice in the courtroom.
Byers, Michele, and Val Marie Johnson. The CSI Effect: Television, Crime, and Governance. Lanham: Lexington, 2009. Print.
Media portrayal of crime and criminal justice has become incredibly widespread in the last decade, with crime often considered both a source of news and entertainment. As a source of entertainment, crime and criminal justice have emerged as central themes across various sources of media. Most individuals do not have any direct experience with the criminal justice system, so their only source of information on this topic is the media. Particularly in television shows, portrayals of crime and criminal justice can be seen in everything from courtroom dramas to nightly news programs. Indeed, the popularity of crime shows has lead to some of television’s most enduring series, such as Law and Order and CSI. Because of this, fictional
Quinsey, V. (2009). Are we there yet? stasis and progress in forensic psychology. Canadian Psychology, 50(1), 15-15-21.
Television has seen plenty of producers, writers and viewers attracted to crime and deviance. The crime drama series is not an unchanging structure but develops in an intricate relationship with audiences, media institutions, social contexts and other genres. Crime drama series’ structure often begins with some strains to the social order by criminal forces. Historically police officers or “cops” are good and the criminals are bad. However today we can notice “bent” cops and sometimes sympathetic villains.
In society today the media’s has an extensive influence on the public by mediums such as the internet, television news, newspapers and radio. In addition, crime is often considered both a source of news and entertainment with such programs as CSI, NCIS and Criminal Minds being some amongst many others that also influence public perception on crime (Hayes & Levett, 2013). Evidence shows that the medias portrayal of crime can indeed affect the public’s perception although evidence will demonstrates that crime perception can be unique to each individual. Evidence shows that media reports have the potential to strongly influence people’s daily activities (Weatherburn and Indermaur, 2004). When the media reports on a crime it triggers an effect