2. Do you think you suffer from the "CSI effect"? Why or why not? What problems do you think this "effect" has on the criminal justice system? I think that to a certain extent I do suffer from the “CSI effect”. This is because the entire reason I’m so interested in the field of forensics is from watching crime shows such as NCIS and other forensic documentaries. Doing this might have given me an unrealistic expectation of how the study of forensics worked. However, I do understand that this field isn’t as quick and simple as portrayed on television, and even knowing this, I’m still just as interested in the field. I think that this effect causes problems in the criminal justice system such as people who give up on cases more easily than they otherwise would, because they would perceive the analyzing of evidence to be a slower process. It could also mean that there are people in the field less motivated, because their job isn’t what they expected.…
2) I think it is very important that we reexamine past cases because of the improvements. It is very unfair for those who have been imprisoned due to the inadequate technology. The disadvantage to this is that old cases means old evidence that may not be of any use because of the case's age. Samples may have dried up etc.…
Being familiar with a crime, would decrease the chances of committing the crime due to knowing what the outcome would be. Specific crime is preventing the “offender from engaging in repeat…
Cheryy, Kendra. About.Com (n.d.) What Is Forensic Psychology?. [online] Available at: http://psychology.about.com/od./branchesofpsycholog1/f/forensicpsychology.htm [Accessed: 15 Feb 2013].…
Woodward, P.A. (ed) (2011). The Doctrine of Double Effect: Philosophers Debate a Controversial Moral Principle, Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.…
In the case of Jennifer Thompson, she prepared for the fight and was determined not to be murdered by her rapist. As she cleared her mind, Jennifer tried to memorize every facial feature or distinct markings on her rapist. She wanted to make sure she encoded everything she was seeing and hearing from her assailant, but what happens when other factors alter your memories. Things such as unconscious transference, weapon focus, cross race bias or how the eye witness was questioned can play a big factor on how memories are recalled from the eye witness. These factors played a big role in Ronald Cotton’s sentencing and cost him 11 agonizing years in prison. Many believe that once we encode something in our minds it is there for ever and there is nothing that can alter or change our memory of the event, but we are wrong. Like in the case of Jennifer Thompson, she was so positive that Ronald Cotton was her assailant, she had identified him in a photo line up after describing him to a Forensic Sketch artist, and again identified him in a line up. During these two occasions, the officer’s in the case gave Jennifer assured her that she was doing great. This gave Jennifer more reassurance and confidence that she had chosen the right man, but she had not. Previous studies on post identification feedback show that “witnesses who received confirming feedback (versus no feedback) as having paid more attention, having had a better view, being better able to identify strangers, and being more confident at the time of the identification.” (Douglass et. al., 2010, p. 287). Thus Jennifer’s second and third time around identifying Ronald Cotton as her rapist…
Since 1989 the way cases are handled have changed. Exonerations have provided a different outlook with how the major players in the court system recognize the Criminal Justice System. Also the way the public perceives the system has also been influenced due to exonerations. Influences such as reality shows, movies, and dramatic television can implement the way society portrays exonerations. Several states have created laws that allow certain individuals to obtain information about DNA analysis, innocent programs to investigate convicted offenders that are thought to be innocent and law enforcement reforms. ()…
I believe that when attempting to convict a person of a crime, there should be plenty of physical evidence of that person doing the crime in order for there to even be a case. In many cases, repressed memories can be false, but the author of Repressed Memories: True and False, believes that in some cases repressed memories can be legitimate but neither should be used as a reliable source in a criminal case. Only reliable sources should be used when attempting to convict another on a crime they may or may not have done. Loftus experiments prove that the cases that involve repressed memories as a primary source are typically weak cases (Reisner Paragraph 13). In reality, any type of evidence used in a criminal case should be physical. Memories are not a form of physical evidence and should not be used. The use of physical evidence in criminal cases has a far better chance of convicting the true criminal, verses using memories or thoughts as evidence. There is no way to back up the evidence if it is based off of a memory. There have been a numerous amount of cases that have been dismissed due to the jury not believing in the repressed memories. It’s impossible to have a strong case when the jurors do not even believe the information given to…
These wrongful convictions played a major role in more than 75% of wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing (The Innocence Project, 2010). Although eyewitness testimony can be critical evidence before a judge or jury; 30 years of strong social science research has proven that eyewitness identification is often unreliable. The research which was conducted by the Innocence Project revealed that the human mind is not like a tape recorder or video camera; we neither record events exactly as we see them, nor recall the instance exactly how it occurred. Nevertheless, witness memory is like any other evidence at a crime scene, it must be documented carefully and retrieved methodically and quickly, or it can be contaminated (The Innocence project 2010). We as people can carry fibers, through our clothing, skin and hair that can cause the contamination of a crime scene just by not following proper procedure. Furthermore, in these types of cases, DNA has proven what scientists already know, that eyewitness identification is frequently…
This paper will identify two forensic settings and two external dimensions of forensic treatments. It will explain similarities and differences terms of external dimensions of forensic treatment settings. It will reveal a conclusion of insight that was gained as a result.…
The requirements and standards from the past is simplistic because each era of crime has different motives and thought processes. The functionality of today society is totally different from days where doors were left unlocked. Crimes committed are more intense and lacking conscience thoughts. Many offender do not truly think about why until it`s too late. The increase of technology and the rise in public concern for safety interrelates as research continues to connect them both. Shockingly, all the little details are how many crimes are solved. Only technology has the strength to change how evidence is found and…
Since I started playing football, I’ve come across teammates and coaches who fight through the effects of brain injuries on a daily basis. Those experiences alone helped me decide at a young age that I wouldn’t let my children play football. As a child, I wasn’t informed about head trauma and it continues to haunt me each day. I was just chasing a dream, hoping to change my family’s lifestyle and fortune. My children won’t need to risk their brains for this same goal, thanks to the benefits I’ve received from playing the sport professionally.…
Within this paper I will discuss past, current, and future trends and how it affects and changes our criminal justice system. I will also address recent and future trends and contemporary issues that affect the criminal justice system, as well as the values of the criminal justice system in a changing society.…
Providing cues may later be incorporated, by facilitating the match between self-knowledge and possible events. The child abuse, false evidence of eyewitness, misjudgment of innocent people, and other cases in legal system should be considered. Unfortunately, current research still disputes about how to differentiate between true or false memory. However, many previous study help to understand the process by which false memories…
These tactics made it so that the information given by the jury was clear and unbiased. This is a critical part of crime detection because without these enforced processes the jury would be falsely accusing people everyday. With this being done, the right people are tried, and the right people are proven guilty or innocent. But forensic psychology is not only used to have reliable members of the court for crime detection, it is also used to make sure that the defendant is who the jury and court say s/he is. To do so the forensic psychologist would have to run some tests to make sure that the accused is in the right mental state and is not someone who is mentally insane. Another process the forensic psychologist would have to run is whether or not the story that the defendant told is reliable and fits into the incident. The process stated can also be done for checking whether or not a witness is mentally stable, and have their story inline so there is no confusion. For these reasons we can see the importance of forensic psychology in crime detection.…