Richard Willing, Author of The CSI Effect, Believes the Television Series, CSI Changed the Field of Forensic Science

617 Words2 Pages

In the article “The CSI Effect”, Richard Willing shows how the widely known television series “CSI” has contributed change to the field of science; by how forensic sciences are Perceived and how it is becoming a higher craved career choice. A concerned that Mr. Willing refers is have hit crime shows given a well description of sciences for crime scenes and the work necessary to solve cases. After watching shows as these it makes it appear as though solving mysteries can be unraveled within a short time frame of days or shorter. By glimmering up the science field people are pursuing an illusion of the reality and the work required for capturing and stopping criminals. The science field is made to seem easier than it is, when investigators on a show find confirmation just a few inches away from where they are standing or in the corner of their eye. Detective and Science based shows are exaggerated to an extent to make the show more interesting and far-fetched so that more people become intrigued by the story line, as well as the characters in the shows. The effects of crime shows in r...

Show More
Related

  • CSI Effect

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was introduced to viewers in October 2000. Since that time, the franchise has added two versions in major metropolitan areas, now addressing crime scenarios in Las Vegas, Miami and New York City. Based on the most recent Nielsen ratings for primetime television shows, the CSI franchise claimed approximately 35 million viewers during the 2010 – 2011 viewing season. The popularity of forensic science drama on television has led officers of the court to voice opinions that there is a “CSI effect” which alters the juror pools and outcomes of criminal trial proceedings. The differences between made for television fiction and actual crime solving are many and when jurors consider themselves pseudo-experts those lines may get blurred in the courtroom.

    Read More

  • CSI Synthesis Essay

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    Specifically, crime shows have given us, the TV audience as a whole, scripts or an expectation of what will/should happen in a variety of situations. It leads people to think about what is appropriate and what isn’t in terms of how the results of these situations play out. For example, in the CSI franchise, as the plot unfolds in each episode, it takes forensic evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints, to convict the villain. Before the technological breakthroughs made in the fields of biology and forensics, juries relied more on circumstantial evidence, and eyewitness accounts to prove someone was guilty. This is just one example of how crime shows have changed the general representations of what is the “correct” way to solve a crime.

    Read More

  • Forensic Science In The Real CSI

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Career as a Crime Scene Investigator

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    Crime scene investigators, also known as CSIs, have played an essential role in protecting citizens, by proving who is guilty, and who is innocent. CSIs use a large amount of Science and Math skills to solve crimes, resulting in a decent income. They are specialized in forensic science in order to examine crime scenes and recover important evidence (Career Cruising).

    Read More

  • Misconceptions Created by Television Shows, As Explained in Richards Willing’s “CSI Effect”

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Criminals: Gaining Cleverness Through Crime Television

    1683 Words  | 4 Pages

    Picture this: it is a weeknight and you are watching Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune while enjoying a delicious meal with your family. After those programs finish, it is now about eight o’clock. During late night, local channels present new or old episodes of many television shows. There is American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, The Bachelorette, but most importantly CSI, Criminal Minds, etc. To most viewers, shows like CSI or Criminal Minds capture their attention and find them interesting. Watching the characters solve crimes by either using forensic science or studying the “behavior” of the criminal. Also observing how the crime took place and what exactly was the criminal’s motive. Of course, in reality, it does not take an hour to solve these crimes, or a few days according the shows. For many years, criminological shows entertain hundreds of viewers. My grandmother and I usually watch Criminal Minds every Wednesday night at nine. A criminal can also gain much from reading books or examining earlier killers.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Criminal Minds

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    Each new episode features a new murderer or a new serial criminal committing a different crime. It is simply unrealistic to believe that the team encounters a different case in every episode. Although it seems blatantly obvious now, thousands of viewers swallow the false information released by the show. The team flies out to a city and quickly begins its work trying to figure out who the criminal might be. They do their best to create a sort of “profile” for each new criminal, which includes an age, a height, a weight, and a personality type. They use the help of the public, to find and identify potential suspects. This in turn, engages the audience in the

    Read More

  • Serial Killers and Criminal Justice

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Crime Scene Investigator Research Paper

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s time, modern Crime Scene Investigation has increased rapidly. From throughout the late 1900’s and in the early 2000’s (Taylor 1). For all of the evidence that they find, a solid foundation has formed over the thousands of years of Crime Scene

    Read More

  • Forensic in Pop Culture: The CSI Effect

    1924 Words  | 4 Pages

    With producing reality shows comes producing inaccuracies in portrayals in order to reach as many viewers and gain as high ratings as possible every week with each new episode. Every day life is boring, yet people tend to be attracted to the relatable shows that portray real life in eccentric ways – ways that they believe could be imitated by the average person. In many cases, these shows could remain harmless, as it is entertainment. No matter how crude or erroneous, it is just television. However, what happens when these sources of amusement actually start being damaging? Research has shown that crime shows like the ever popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have started becoming significantly detrimental to criminal cases, influencing a juror's perception of what should realistically be going on with acquittal rates and wrongful convictions, but researchers have also started to find a rising fault in the prosecution, using this false perception to their advantage.

    Read More

  • Analyzing The Media's Perceptions Of Forensic Psychology

    1524 Words  | 4 Pages

    In recent years, however, such programs as CSI that follows detectives at the Las Vegas Police Department Crime Scene Investigations Bureau as they solve puzzles and catch criminals. Perhaps one of the most well known shows with a forensic psychology theme, CSI has a large impact on viewers perceptions of forensic psychology. On one hand, the increased popularity of forensic psychology because of the show is good and more people are taking an interest in forensic psychology as a career. On the other hand, the forensic psychology that viewers see every week on television may not be exactly the same as forensic psychology in reality. Particularly programs such as CSI also overstate the ability of “hard” evidence (also known as forensic evidence), such as fingerprints and DNA, to provide evidence of definite innocence or guilt (Trask, 2007). They often disregard other components of the investigative process, such as police questioning, despite these being equally valid to establishing guilt (Nolan, 2006). This over-reliance on forensic evidence, due to the importance of forensic science being dramatized by television crime dramas, is also known as the CSI

    Read More

  • A Career as a Criminal Investigator

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Crime Scene Investigator (CSI)”. Explore Health Careers.Org. 18 March 2014. Web. 14 March 2014. .

    Read More

  • The Crime Drama Genre

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Forensic Science History Essay

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forensic science has now been recognized as an important part of the law enforcement team to help solve crimes and cold cases. The advances in technology are being used each day and we must continue to strive to develop better advances in this field. The recent discovery of using DNA in criminal cases has helped not only positively identify the suspect, but it has helped exonerate hundreds of innocent individuals. “With new advances in police technology and computer science, crime scene investigation and forensic science will only become more precise as we head into the future.” (Roufa, 2017) Forensic science and evidence helps law enforcement officials solve crimes through the collection, preservation and analysis of evidence. By having a mobile crime laboratory, the scene gets processed quicker and more efficiently. Forensic science will only grow in the future to be a benefit for the criminal justice

    Read More

  • How Technology Has Impacted Criminal Investigation

    2200 Words  | 5 Pages

    “The word ‘forensics’ means “connected with the courtroom”; so forensic science is, therefore, concerned with gathering hard evidence that can be presented in a trial” (Innes 9). Forensic science is a science that is applied specifically to legal matters, whether criminal or civil. “Few areas in the realm of science are as widespread and important as forensic science” (Hunter 12). Forensics is the one science that is most commonly used in everyday life. It is also a branch of science that incorporates other branches of science such as biology, chemistry, and etc. Since it is used almost every day “No one can dispute the importance of the contributions to society made by forensic science; the ability to solve crime is undeniably important” (Hunter 13). Forensic science has given criminal investigation a new edge. “Advances in science have opened the door for more effective evidence discovery, howev...

    Read More

More about Richard Willing, Author of The CSI Effect, Believes the Television Series, CSI Changed the Field of Forensic Science

Open Document