CJUS 420 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CSI effect among the public _ASSIGNMENT_2024.pdf

CSI effect among the public

Caroline Reid

Liberty University

CJUS 420: Criminal Investigations I (B01)

David Corn

July 3, 2023

Abstract

The “CSI effect” has been portrayed in many different areas such as on TV, the justice system,

colleges and so much more. But the effect it has had on the public can be seen in both a positive

and negative way. There recently has been a positive effect shown in colleges when it comes to

students deciding what major they will major in. In the paper will go into more detail about how

the CSI effect plays a role in their decision as well as how it has been seen in a negative factor

among others. But how will you choose to see the CSI effect?

CSI effect among the public

With the various amount of TV shows, movies, and so much more being released the past

few decades it has really shed some light on the dreaded “CSI effect” as some call it. We know

that the CSI effect has had its fair share of what it means but what we can gather is that it

involves various ways that has exaggerated the portrayal of the forensic evidence. But with the

media that is part of their job is to exaggerate the truth to try and convince us that this is how

things are really supposed to work. The CSI effect has played a huge role in over the years in our

justice system, but we must explore how the public has reacted to such a controversial topic. So,

in the court room. Many people who have experienced the “CSI effect,” has resulted in people

calling themselves experts in many of the desired fields. The arguments have included issues

such as jurors being influenced in such a way to ask for unnecessary tests which leads judges to

make decisions based on certain evidence being included. This effect has been around for years,

but some do not see it as such a big thing such as college students and facility members.

While many studies have shown little to no support for the CSI effect, researchers have

found that the perception of its existence among the public and criminal justice actors is the

opposite (Davis, 2021). The public’s perception of the CSI effect has played a role in how

college students are choosing their majors for college, and it is allowing them to have a different

outlook on this topic. A research study was conducted on first-year students of the Faculty of

Criminal Justice and Security (Slovenia) in which they were directly asked to state the extent to

which TV series and films influenced their enrollment decision (Slak, 2020). Many believe that

the issue stems from the different TV shows and movies today, but the study shows that many of

the students were motivated by those certain shows and films to pursue the degree. Everyone is

going to have their own opinion about the CSI effect, but it is how we see the good in something

and how it is inspiring others is what should matter.

suspects, identification of the vehicle involved in crime, establish victim’s or offender’s last

movement and so on (Sharma, 2019). There have been studies that have shown that because of

the array of TV shows it has allowed more students to enroll in areas of college that involves

forensic science and other areas that involve the CSI effect. But the media seems to think that

with the TV shows that among other things influencing these kids it leads to a misperception of

what forensic science and other areas are all about.

There are certain ways that can help the media when it comes to allowing those to see

what goes on in the word of law enforcement without misguiding people. The development of

universal communication channels through the internet has provided the facts relating to

crime statistics, personnel and other social demographics relating to the area being policed that

can be easily accessed by law enforcement further and to take necessary action to control the

crime in the area or the region (Sharma, 2019). Which in part leads to the whole issues

surrounding the media, how is the perception being misconstrued to the viewers? This means we

should also include the media literacy campaigns to educate the people and investigators that

how media can influence the public opinion Sharma, 2019). It is important that we are educating

those who want to pursue a career in law enforcement of forensic science while making sure they

compare to the one that was previously mentioned? In this study we are seeing how once again

the media has displayed the TV shows but in a way that deals with how these show the process

of collecting DNA and so much more. The repetitive pattern of television's mass-produced

messages and images forms the mainstream of the common symbolic environment that cultivates

the most widely shared conceptions of reality (Dunn, 2018). Which we know from previous

discussion that the media and how they want us to perceive this effect can affect how the viewers

take in the information that is being displayed on the TV shows and etc.

They tested a few different hypotheses and it is clear that forensic (CSI) and police (SVU)

dramas reference DNA at a much higher rate than FBI dramas, providing support for Hypothesis

1 (Dunn, 2018). This hypothesis involves the idea the dramas like the show FBI focuses more on

the profiling aspect versus the idea that you need DNA to capture a suspect. Doing a study like

this also has allowed them to see how the CSI effect is clearly put int perspective, because not all

of the shows have the same plot of what happens, but they share the common idea: law

enforcement. Our study informs future research on the CSI effect. Many of the existing studies

look solely at CSI or lump crime shows together as a singular genre or two (e.g., forensic dramas

vs. all others) (Dunn, 2018).

We have found another study that has to deal with how colleges are seeing an increase into

said of this issue in the court rooms which has cause an uproar in certain areas. However, they

attribute such heightened demand for scientific evidence to rational expectations depending on

the seriousness of the crime and the new scientific methods that are becoming a daily reality, and

not to the viewing of CSI and similar shows (Slak, 2019).

The results indicate that some students were motivated by TV series and film, although more

in-depth research would need to be done to provide better insight into the dimension of the CSI

effect (Slak, 2019). The study was done on first year college students, but it does give us a brief

understand into why the students chose what they did based on what shows they have watched

which there was a positive effect in the end. Moreover, it is highly likely that both the media

content selection and the study programme were affected by reasons that impacted the

development of other motivational factors (Slak, 2019). The CSI effect can be seen here as

having a positive effect on students and they did not let the media influence their decision but

what we do not know is that is this always the case? More studies obviously would need to be

done with a much bigger pool of students to give a much better understanding of how the

students really choose what they decide to major in.

While studies have shown little to no support for the CSI effect, researchers have found that

the perception of its existence among the public and criminal justice actors is the opposite

attorneys, and law enforcement, possess beliefs about the CSI effect that directly contradict

established conclusions (Davis, 2021). From this contradiction there was a study that intertwined

that involved asking community members if they had any idea about the CSI effect and they did

not understand what it was until someone gave them the definition. But with the college students

it is very evident that the TV shows, movies, etc played a role in what classes they decided to

take as well as what they major in.

The present study showed that students enrolled in criminology courses do in fact

perceive the existence of a CSI effect for jury verdicts and offender behavior despite reporting

previous awareness of the CSI effect (Davis, 2021). There were many factors that were taken

into consideration in order for these results to come out the way that they did which it did

influence how they would turn out but with any study that is to be expected. But in the end, it is

important that we take a bigger look at the picture and find ways to better what we have already

gotten and there look into recommendations like these people did. Therefore, it is recommended

that, (1) discussion on the CSI effect should be introduced into introductory

criminology/criminal justice courses in order to reach the widest audience (e.g. majors and non-

majors), and (2) subsequent courses should spend time reinforcing the discrepancies between

evidence and perceptions in the criminology/criminal justice field (Davis, 2021). With any study

respondents believing that the absence of forensic evidence is sufficient for a prosecutor to drop

the case and nearly 40% believing that the presence of forensic evidence – even if other forms of

evidence suggest that the defendant is not guilty – is enough to convict the defendant (Kaplan,

2020). Many have been too quick to jump and blame the CSI effect for causing the errors in

forensic evidence, but a poll taken of 100 people showed that they believed there are errors in the

techniques to gather such evidence. The CSI effect many claims may affect juror expectations

and perceptions, including creating un- reasonable expectations among jurors; elevating forensic

evidence over other forms of evidence; and perceiving forensic evidence as infallible, objective

and free from human judgement or error (Kaplan, 2020). In all reality the CSI effect has many

positive outcomes while it is still being mistreated as something bad or doesn’t exist because

there are results that prove otherwise. It is also something that is just per fact because anyone or

anything can influence us on the daily, but it is how we take what we are shown, taught, etc.

When asked whether watching these shows changed their interest in forensic science,

nearly three-quarters of respondents (99 of 135 respondents; 20 respondents in the sample did

not watch these shows) claimed they are “Much more interested” or “Somewhat more interested”

in forensic science as a result of these shows (Kaplan, 2020). While many do not necessarily

believe that the shows are 100% accurate, they do understand that it does draw their interest into

to see your side?

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can see how the CSI Effect has played a key role in how not only the

public view is but also how the media has portrayed such a topic. It is important that we

comprehend why this effect has been able to have a positive outcome in college students but not

those in other age group categories. There are many factors that have an effect on how we

perceive what we are taught or shown but is how we take what we are taught and come to some

kind of understanding that makes sense. We need to realize that the media and other sources have