Criminals: Gaining Cleverness Through Crime Television

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Recommended: Psychological factors underlying criminal behavior

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.

Hundreds of books written throughout the years are about crime scene investigations. However, has anybody ever thought of real-life criminals that actually watch programs or read books are developing ideas on how to escape the police or how to make their crime more intense? The answer is no, but forensic shows and books coincidentally do give tips to criminals.

Hundreds across the nation watch forensic shows every day. From fictional shows similar to Criminal Minds and CSI, to nonfictional shows such as The First 48 and Forensic Files. However, these shows have something in common. Criminological programs continuously show how the crime happened, what it takes to crack the case, how investigators accumulate evidence, a...

... middle of paper ...

...SI: An Unauthorized Look Inside the Crime Labs of Las Vegas, Miami, and New York. Dallas: BenBella Books, 2006. 20-41. Print.

"Criminals turning to TV shows to cover their tracks ." Criminals Turing to TV Shows to Cover Their Tracks. Peterborough Today, 19 Mar. 2008. Web. 23 Sept. 2011.

"Forensic TV shows help criminals escape police? ." Forensic TV Shows Help Out Criminals. Bluelight, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.

"Men used 'TV murder techniques' ." BBC News. BBC News, 16 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 Sept. 2011.

Rule, Ann. The Stranger Beside Me. New York: Pocket Books, 2009. Print.

Stevens, Dennis J. Media and Criminal Justice: the CSI effect. Sadbury: Jones and Bartlett, 2011. 35-38. Print.

Sulaman, Hazimin. "Are forensics shows giving criminals ideas?." Are forensics shows giving criminals ideas? - News Straight Times Newspaper. CBS, 13 Apr. 2006. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.

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