Wednesday, September 06, 2006

The "CSI Effect"


by blogger ala

I think this article contains some very valid points about the effects that television shows have on forensic investigations. I mean, do we really need to give criminals any advantages?

"But while this interest is sexing up the image of scientists, is it also stopping police catching criminals and securing convictions?"

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that we are making more knowledgeable criminals in the process of entertaining the public.
JMM

Anonymous said...

I watch CSI all the time, but I know the difference between fact and fiction. I would hope juries did not let shows like CSI interfere with how they look at real evidence in a real case. Also, CSI isn't the only show that can make criminals more knowlegdeable. There are show like Forensic Files and FBI Files that show crimes that actually happened and how they were solved using forensic evidence. RDD JS110

Anonymous said...

CSI does make criminals more aware of the processes that forensic scientist go through, but there is no possible way that a criminal can learn every thing that a forensic scientist does to not contaminate a crime scene just by watching CSI. Forensic scientist can use highly detailed and difficult processes in order to solve a crime.

ESH

Anonymous said...

I think these shows can cause a crime increase because it may give criminals a new technique to try or new ideas on how to get away but yet and still the shows are interesting.

Anonymous said...

The Show is giving criminals more tricks to try or at least that may be what they think and it can possibly give crimanals a tips guide on what not to do when you are about to do a crime. over all the show is interesting

BG JS110

Anonymous said...

I watch CSI constantly and find it incredibly addicting. I would insist that while the show does give criminals more ideas to commit crimes, it also stands as a warning. CSI warns criminals that there are endless possibilities in forensics to convict criminals. BVP

UAB MSFS Program said...

for js110ers - you are all correct in that criminals can become more "forensically aware" and careful. however, i think most criminals are still pretty stupid and don't plan things out. it's tough to cover everything up.

Anonymous said...

I think CSI may give criminals a glimpse of what goes on, but I definetly don't think the show should not be own because they give criminals a few "tricks". I think what CSI does more than anything else is spark the interest of people that are interested in forensic science. Besides why are we only gang up on CSI when there so many more investigative show we can ttalk about.
KL

Anonymous said...

I agree with KL in the fact the CSI shows are sparking an interest in the field of forensic science. When talking to a parent of high school age children I was told that forensic science is one of the new hot fields that everyone wants to go into. This is a big change from when I was in high school which was only 5 years ago, no one had really heard of forensic science and if they had heard of it they thought it included cutting up dead people.

Anonymous said...

I saw an episode of CSI where a woman was murdered with a nail gun. Similar to balistics for a handgun, they were able to trace the nails in the victim by unique markings.
I agree with BVP, watching CSI (and other shows like it)reminds us that there is little we can get away with. Our bodies and any weapon we choose will leave a trail for forensics teams to follow. DB JS110

UAB MSFS Program said...

students-

good comments. i agree that the good (discussion of forensics) probably outweighs the bad (giving criminals ideas). heck, everything always works so well on those shows, it should make a person think twice before commiting a crime.

-jgl

Anonymous said...

I of course have watch CSI, and never thought that in this day and age people on juries would make decisions on cases based on a TV show. The issue of criminals using the show to commit crimes more effectively is a good arguement but with the same token the investigators on the show find 9 times out of 10 the one who committed the crimes. If could be a deterent in some cases. DT

academic writing said...

In my personal opinion CSI is one of the best today's TV shows. Only Big Bang Theory could be against it

help with dissertation said...

absolutely agree with a poster above me. CSI rules, I think it's even better than BTS (it's not my kind of humor, nothing personal)