Forensic Science Essay

Have you ever wondered how investigators figure out who the criminal is in the investigations? Is it luck or is it science? Forensic Science is the use of scientific principals to analyze information connected to a crime and who committed it. One type of forensics is autopsies. In the Rage and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier, investigators did some analysis of the crime scene, but should have used other forms of forensic science to solve the crime. The use of forensics in the novel hindered the investigation.

Forensic Science is defined as the application of science and scientific methods to civil and criminal laws. Forensic Science in itself is an incredibly broad topic. This can apply to many careers, such as forensic accounting. In this paper, I will be discussing forensic science and crime scene investigation as it relates to law enforcement. With advancements in technology, forensic science and crime scene investigations are not only intriguing, but also a vital, ever changing and growing career field.

Forensics is an extracurricular activity offered to students in 6th, 7th & 8th grade. The purpose of middle school forensics is to build self-confidence and oral competency by developing and practicing fundamental public speaking skills.

The human body and brain has always intrigued and fascinated me, but more in death than living. In middle school, a TV show called CSI: Crime Scene Investigation appeared to me every day afterschool. Whatever I did, I could not stay away for one second. Even my mom was weird out on how comfortable I was with crime scenes having blood and gruesome dead bodies lying around, which hasn’t changed.

The idea of using the science has been started before the debuting of Sherlock Holmes in 1887, who had introduced about the forensic science to help criminal investigation. In history, the work of forensic scientists was performed by medical personnel. Until the end of eighteenth century, the attempts of French medical jurist Antoine Louis, crime solving Chinese book “ Hsi Duan Yu”(the washing way of wrongs), etc gave ideas about determining time of death, analyzing blood stain, identifying chemical used in crime, etc. After eighteenth century, the modern chemistry paved new way of identifying crime like the idea of measuring height, length of right ear and outstretched

Profiling is a tool used that emerges forensics, psychology, and criminology to understand criminals such as rapist and serial killers. This technique has been used for centuries to unveil motives, disorders, and history. Law enforcements work with the information they are given to create profiles of the criminals based on their characteristics and evidence. Law enforcement have tried to track patterns and predict the next criminal act, but with the lack of training that has been done for such rare and horrendous crimes. After many serial killers have taunted the police’s lack of intelligence when it comes to catching them from their heinous crimes, other methods where adopted or discovered to help reduce the number of crimes.

The definition of forensic science is any scientific research, method, or theory used to analyze evidence in an attempt to solve legal cases (Cho). In recent years, there has been growing public interest in forensic science, arguably because of the numerous television programs that glamorize its practices. This phenomenon is part of what is known as the CSI effect, or the process through which devoted fans of popular crime dramas develop unrealistic notions of forensic science methods, practices, and their applications in real life cases (Mancini 544; Stevens 37; Ley, Jankowski, and Brewer 52). The CSI effect has had more negative impacts on forensic science and society than positive impacts, especially in regards to what goes on in the

Murderers usually don’t leave behind clues to be caught with. This is the reason why so many cases go unsolved. However, Dennis Rader, more widely known as B.T.K. (Bind Torture Kill), was an oddity amongst other serial killers. He almost desperately wanted his crimes to be noticed in the media and be looked at by police. He was wildly gruesome in his various murders, leaving behind many clues, but without any leads, the case couldn’t go any further. When media coverage and police investigation had died down after two decades, he decided to put on a show for police. Police used the patterns he left behind in his performance to catch him. This means that profiling is valuable resource in catching a criminal. The International Association of Crime

Criminal profiling is another subject of criminal and forensic psychology, which is probably one of the oldest studies of forensic science. Criminal profiling has been called many things, such as behavioral profiling, crime scene profiling, criminal personality profiling, psychological profiling, and more recently even criminal investigation analysis. Criminal profiling’s history has come from a history of criminal behavior, the study of mental illnesses, and forensic examinations.

Psychological profiling is defined as a process of linking an offender’s actions at the crime scene to their most likely characteristics to help police investigators narrow down and prioritize a pool of most likely suspects (Psychological Profiling, n.d.). The psychological profiling of offenders has three goals; to provide the criminal justice system with a social and psychological assessment of the offender, to provide the criminal justice system with a psychological evaluation of belongings found in the possession of the offender, and to provide interviewing suggestions and strategies (Holmes & Holmes, 2009). Profiling of suspects can be tracked as far back to the 1880’s. However, it wasn’t until the twentieth century that forensic psychology

1. The world of forensic science is a fascinating place. There are many branches to this occupation, but the main branch is that of a forensic science technician. I am interested in this job field because everything about it seems interesting, from working in a lab to being at the scene of a homicide. Forensic science technicians are people who “use principles of biology, chemistry, and math, and a range of techniques, to obtain and analyze evidence from a variety of sources” (National Careers Service).

After doing their job in he crime scene, the evidence they took will be taken to the forensic scientist. Crime scene investigators will look at the photographs and connect their theories based on the crime that occurred. The forensic scientists will also examine the victim’s clothes, while the medical examiner will analyze the victim’s body for more clues and evidence that they may find and they will all be doing this in the crime lab. The things they may find could be hair, fiber, semen, blood, another person’s DNA, bruises and many more. After the forensic scientists

Criminal profiling is one of few first things to think of when it comes to forensic psychology. Criminal profiling is featured in popular television shows such as in Law and Order and CSI. Often in those shows, the police officers were able to catch the criminals based on the criminal profile that forensic psychologists came up with. In a theory, the polices rely on criminal profiling to catch criminals, educate the public about a possible criminal, and confirm the witnesses’ accounts. Criminal profiling involves using various methods to guess a criminal’s background, behavior, and even preferences for the victims.

Forensic science is a broad term that refers to the use of science or technology in a court room environment. Forensic science plays an important role in modern popular culture; the police procedural is highly dependent upon cutting-edge forensic science. Moreover, many people are aware of the impact of DNA testing on the modern criminal justice landscape. However, forensic science actually predates many modern scientific advances; almost as long as there have been controversies, there has been some type of forensic science.

The psychologist contributes to investigations criminal behavior by profiling and similar techniques. The criminal psychologist can also assist with pretrial methods. This subsection is highly important because it includes the evaluation and treatment of suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime. The primary task of the forensic psychologist profiling. Psychological profiling involves “investigating an offender's behavior, motives and background in an attempt to further guide an investigation…,” (APA). There are several different areas of profiling that the professionals do in the field. In criminal profiling the psychologist analyzes the emotional, mental disposition of a suspect. While remaining as a slightly controversial technique, profiling has become an increasingly prominent part of criminal investigation. When used properly it has the capacity of being one of law enforcement’s most powerful tools.