NCJ Number
221904
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2008 Pages: 84-102
Date Published
March 2008
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the social distance between popular media depictions of criminal investigations (Crime Scene Investigation (CSI)) and reality (the CSI effect), and the extent to which these depictions influenced criminal jury trials as experienced by trial counsel and judges.
Abstract
Results from the study indicate three themes. Theme one addresses specific instances of cases where respondents felt case outcomes had been influenced by forensic television shows, and 79 percent of all respondents responded in the affirmative. Theme two addresses changes in respondents’ job execution because of forensic shows. Eighty-five percent of respondents commented their jobs had changed in some way. The most commonly cited change was additional time spent at trial discussing forensic evidence. Theme three examines the general effects of the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) effect, and results strongly indicate jurors’ construction of the criminal justice system is shaped by what they view is popular media. Respondents commented on jurors’ belief that investigators had small caseloads and unlimited resources for solving crimes. Using a social construction of reality perspective, this study examined the social distance between popular media depictions of criminal investigations and reality, and the extent to which these depictions influenced criminal jury trials. In other words, according to criminal justice practitioners, does the CSI effect exist? Tables, notes, and references