Are you a fan of television shows of Bones or CSI? Do you have a passion for problem solving and a love for the natural sciences and the scientific method? Do you have a passion for finding a way to apply that knowledge towards fighting and solving crimes? If this describes you, then a career in forensic science will probably be the perfect choice for you. Forensic science career should be discovered and considered in terms of job duties, education requirements, skills and qualities, salary and working environment.
First of all, Richard (2014) defined “Forensic science is the application of science to the criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system.” (p.4). Forensic scientists help solve crimes
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The field of forensics science requires scientists to work with many different types of people under circumstances that are often complicated and challenging. Because of this, it is important that forensic scientists must have “communication, oral comprehension, and active listening skills” . In other words, they need to have the ability to listen and understand information presented through spoken words and sentences so that other people can understand. They also need to give full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. In addition, prospective forensic scientists must have “critical-thinking and problem-solving skills” because they need to use their best judgment when matching physical evidence, such as fingerprints and DNA to suspects and use scientific tests to help law enforcement officials solve …show more content…
The forensic scientists present the findings to detectives and lawyers as well as provide expert testimonies during trial. Furthermore, they usually get the good feeling that comes from having contributed to justice being served. They can find fulfillment in knowing that their work is the deciding factor in determining guilt or innocence. Forensic science field has improved the criminal justice system; however, the drawbacks should be seen in lights of a few substantial benefits. In the article “Context effects in forensic science: a review and application of the science of science to crime laboratory practice in the United States”, MJ Saks, DM Risinger, R Rosenthal and WC Thompson (2003) state that forensic scientists might become influenced or “biased” by context effects when they work on the cases because they always receive a case with the complete story from the police. Additionally, they might hear other results from their colleagues in other sections, and they draw conclusions from the evidence with their colleague’s conclusions in mind. Another challenge that can be directly attributed to forensics career is that attending court as expert witness is often a nerve-wracking experience. Because the results will help the judges come to the right decisions – the right person will be punished for a crime that was committed and the wrong person or innocent will not be blamed by mistake. Therefore, forensic
Forensic Science is the process of finding evidence or material connected to the crime. When a crime is committed, police officers take over and secure the scene so if needed, special investigators can search the area to collect and transport evidence to the crime lab. In addition, forensic scientists work in laboratories, courtrooms, etc. But forensic scientists do not carry a weapon or have the authority to arrest someone, even if proven guilty. They research evidence connected to a crime scene to figure out and uncover who committed the crime. It is often used in cases like airplane crashes, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, crimes committed during the war and cause of sudden death (Funkhouser). Forensic science can
I think that the most difficult responsibility of a forensic scientist is being an expert witness. I think that it would be challenging because you’re testifying in a very important court case, you’re under pressure, and you cannot lie, leave out details, or stretch the truth. Whatever you say affects whether or not the criminal in the case is found guilty or walks free, which can be very stressful to think about.
Forensic Science has contributed to our world a great deal. People often misunderstand Forensic Science and believe it is much more capable than it really is. As a matter of fact what you see on T.V. is around 80% false or over exaggerated in some way. To Start of, Criminal Investigation is the largest and most known form of Forensic Science. Some of the more known areas include; Fingerprinting, Ballistics, DNA Identification, Fiber Samples, Computer Animation, Documentation analysis, etc. To get this out of the way in the beginning, what you saw on last night’s law and order is far from the truth. Things they do in a matter of hours take months at a time, and most of the time aren’t even plausible concepts.
The identification to a person can help police find a person who may have committed a crime or able to help a case be solved. This profession helps us citizens find justice in our loved ones who we have lost and help the authorities catch the one who done wrong in the world and provide a better environment. This job mostly involves chemistry and science to be able to find the evidence. The benefit of being able to help a family get the closure they need for their loved ones for finding the evidence on crime scenes is a wonderful thing to be able to do. The top five states where being a forensic scientist is most popular in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada and
The career of forensic science is an interesting career,because of the different investigations and helping people solve different crime cases . The research will describe the career of crime scene investigation, what is required to become a successful in this career is being able to analyze crimes find evidence at the crime scene and have strong speaking and writing skills .In this type of field, you will gather information about the document, or analyze the evidence like fingerprints, blood, hair, and bullets. Crime scene investigators are needed to identify the dead using information collected. In the field you would generally secure the place, all evidence from the scene.
Forensic science is the use of scientific knowledge and technology to help solve criminal investigations, and provide evidence that is used in a trial. Any person who helps a lawyer or any kind of law enforcement by testing physical evidence is known as a forensic scientist (Frith 4). Forensic scientist can also be known as forensic science technicians, crime lab analyst, or other titles that may reflect a specific area (Echaore-McDavid and McDavid 28). People who are forensic scientists deal with gruesome scenes on a daily basis, and are at a higher risk of depression than most. Most people in this field love the thrill of solving crimes and catching criminals.
Mokokoma Mokhonoana once said, “Science gave us forensics. Law gave us crime.” Forensic science has been used since the late 1700’s to determine the guilt or innocence in major criminal cases by comparing the similarities in DNA. Fingerprinting dates back thousands of years to when the Chinese used it to identify business documents. I want to become a forensic technician because I have always been fascinated by crime shows like CSI and Criminal Minds.
Forensic science, the versatile studying and analyzing of specific information from the past such as blood, DNA, crime scenes, and evidence, takes many years of experience to master but the results can be influential on many aspects of everyday life. Most commonly used in criminal justice, the career requires specific skills and knowledge. If even one slight mistake is made, an innocent could be put behind bars or the safety of a community could be threatened.
Forensic science, the application of sciences such as chemistry, physics, computer science, biology, and their relationships with the matters of law. The field can help the investigators understand many of the fields of science, from blood spatter patterns, to drug and trace evidence, and to determine the identity of unknown individual(s). Forensic science has a very important role in the criminal justice system. Forensics science provides scientifically based information from the analysis of physical evidence to help convict and or protect someone of wrongdoing. An expansive field with many jobs available from being a forensic toxicologist to working in the arson crime lab but to me the career in forensic science that interests me the most
A forensic practitioner can never be biased in an investigation and to ensure ethical behavior some departments have implemented a code of ethics. Although there is a lot of room for error, no forensic investigator wants to live with the possibility that an innocent person is punished or a guilty person escaped prosecution. For all the negative cases on the news there will be a plethora of cases that did not have any problems. Any time a crime scene investigator enters a crime scene, there is a possibility of contamination. A forensic specialist must present an unbiased testimony that is a clear and accurate representation of a crime scene. The room for error in forensic science is rather spacious, however there inaccuracies in any field of science. These errors along with false portrayal of forensic science in the media and strenuous work hours make the job of a forensic scientist excruciatingly
Tyler Oedekoven Forensic Science Mr. Wahlmark 9/19/17 Forensic Science Career Research Paper The definition of a forensic science is the use of science in public, court or justice system. Another thing that they do is that they gather and evaluate evidence from victims and use it to support or disprove the crime in court.
Criminal investigators use forensics science to answer the who, what, why, how, when, and where factors in a crime investigation. It uses scientific methods to describe, infer, and reconstruct events from the small pieces of evidence found during a proper investigation. Scientists and law enforcement have used forensics for over 120 years, but especially more in the twentieth century: major countries like the United States, France, and the United Kingdom have been using forensics as a mean of identifying criminals either by photography or DNA fingerprinting. Shows, books, and other popularized fiction emphasize the scientific aspects of an investigation but do not show the real limitations of court handed down from the U.S Constitution. There have been new discoveries made and are still being made today for the advancement of the forensic side of a criminal case.
Definition and Job Duties Forensic Science is the scientific method of gathering and examining information about the past which is then used in a court of law. Forensic Science technicians help investigate crimes by analyzing evidence found in crime scenes. Many of these technicians specialize in crime scene investigation or laboratory analysis. Forensic science techs can also be known as Criminalists.
A Realistic Perspective on Forensic Science Forensic science is typically viewed as a drama filled, intense storyline. These misleading story lines include insufficient data, false heroism, unrealistic timing, and “perfect” conflicts. It’s common for others to assume that forensics mostly consists of criminology and toxicology. In a more realistic view, forensic science has many branches for determining different subjects, requires lots of training to produce precise conclusions, and have the ability to prove relevance, with details. Criminology or toxicology does not make up forensic science.
Forensic science borrows from a number of sciences which include: physics, Biology and chemistry. It therefore involves examination of a wide spectrum as compared to any other method of investigation. Due to the wide spectrum of investigation and evidence analysis the method offers; it ensures that the results are accurate and can be used in the court of law to make a decision. The method establishes the existence of a crime, the connection between the crimes and the