forensic science a sociological introduction

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This book addresses a significant gap in the literature and provides a comprehensive overview of the sociology of forensic science. Drawing on a wealth of international research and case studies, this book explores the intersection of science, technology, law and society and examines the production of forensic knowledge. This book explores a range of key topics such as: The integration of science into police work and criminal investigation, The relationship between law and science, Ethical and social issues raised by new forensic technology including DNA analysis, Media portrayals of forensic science, Forensic policy and the international agenda for forensic science. This book is important and compelling reading for students taking a range of courses, including criminal investigation, policing, forensic science, and the sociology of science and technology.

Despite a shared focus on crime and its ‘extended family’, forensic scientists and criminologists tend to work in isolation rather than sharing the data, methods and knowledge that will broaden the understanding of the criminal phenomenon and its related subjects. Bringing together perspectives from international experts, this book explores the intersection between criminology and forensic science and considers how knowledge from both fields can contribute to a better understanding of crime and offer new directions in theory and methodology. This handbook is divided into three parts: Part I explores the epistemological and historical components of criminology and forensic science, focusing on their scientific and social origins. Part II considers how collaboration between these disciplines can bring about a better understanding of the organizations and institutions that react to crime, including the court, intelligence, prevention, crime scene investigation and policing. Part III discusses the phenomena and actors that produce crime, including a reflection on the methodological issues, challenges and rewards regarding the sharing of these two disciplines. The objective of this handbook is to stimulate a ‘new’ interdisciplinary take on the study of crime, to show how both forensic and criminological theories and knowledge can be combined to analyse crime problems and to open new methodological perspectives. It will be essential reading for students and researchers engaged with forensic science, criminology, criminal behaviour, criminal investigation, crime analysis and criminal justice.

Forensic Fraud is the culmination of 12 years of research by author Brent E. Turvey. A practicing forensic scientist since 1996, Turvey has rendered this first of its kind study into the widespread problem of forensic fraud in the United States. It defines the nature and scope of the problem, the cultural attitudes and beliefs of those involved, and establishes clear systemic contributors. Backed up by scrupulous research and hard data, community reforms are proposed and discussed in light of the recently published National Academy of Sciences report on forensic science. An adaptation of Dr. Turvey’s doctoral dissertation, this volume relentlessly cites chapter and verse in support of its conclusions that law enforcement cultural and scientific values are incompatible, and that the problem of forensic fraud is systemic in nature. It begins with an overview of forensic fraud as a sub-type of occupational fraud, it explores the extent of fraud in both law enforcement and scientific employment settings, it establishes and then contrasts the core values of law enforcement and scientific cultures and then it provides a comprehensive review of the scientific literature regarding forensic fraud. The final chapters present data from Dr. Turvey’s original research into more than 100 fraudulent examiners between 2000 and 2010, consideration of significant findings, and a review of proposed reforms to the forensic science community based on what was learned. It closes with a chapter on the numerous crime lab scandals, and closures that occurred between 2010 and 2012 – an update on the deteriorating state of the forensic science community in the United States subsequent to data collection efforts in the present research. Forensic Fraud is intended for use as a professional reference manual by those working in the criminal system who encounter the phenomenon and want to understand its context and origins. It is intended to help forensic scientist and their supervisors to recognize, manage and expel it; to provide policy makers with the necessary understaffing for acknowledging and mitigating it; and to provide agents of the courts with the knowledge, and confidence, to adjudicate it. It is also useful for those at the university level seeking a strong secondary text for courses on forensic science, law and evidence, or miscarriages of justice. First of its kind overview of the cultural instigators of forensic fraud First of its kind research into the nature and impact of forensic fraud, with data (2000-2010) First of its kind typology of forensic fraud, for use in future case examination in research Numerous profiles of forensic fraudsters Review of major crime lab scandals between 2010 and 2012

This book is a lucid and practical guide to understanding the core skills and issues involved in the criminal investigation process. Drawing on multiple disciplines and perspectives, the book promotes a critical awareness and practical comprehension of the intersections between criminology, criminal investigation and forensic science, and uses active learning strategies to help students build their knowledge. The book is organised around the three key strategic phases in a criminal investigation: - Instigation and Initial Response - The Investigation - Case Management Each strategic phase of the investigative process is carefully explained and examined. Alongside this practical approach, theoretical perspectives and academic research are laid bare for students. Introducing Forensic and Criminal Investigation is essential reading for students in criminology, criminal justice, policing, forensic psychology and related courses.

This edited collection focuses on the sociology of 'social censure' – the sociological term advocated by Colin Sumner in his seminal writing of the 1980s and 1990s. Social censure has become increasingly important in contemporary criminological writing. This can especially be seen in recent writing on gender and race and also in terms of the way that the state's relationship to crime is now understood. This collection addresses a deficit in the published literature and both revisits themes from an earlier era and looks forward to the development of new writing that develops Sumner’s seminal work on social censure. The contributors are drawn from leading scholars from across the Social Sciences and Law and they address a wide range of issues such as: race, youth justice, policing, welfare, and violence. The resulting volume is an interdisciplinary text which will be of special interest to scholars and students of Critical Criminology and Socio-Legal Studies, as well as those interested in the operation of the criminal justice system and criminological theory.

This sociological introduction provides a much-needed textbook for an increasingly popular area of study. Written by a team of authors with a broad range of teaching and individual expertise, it covers almost every module offered in UK criminological courses and will be valuable to students of criminology worldwide. It covers: key traditions in criminology, their critical assessment and more recent developments new ways of thinking about crime and control, including crime and emotions, drugs and alcohol, from a public health perspective different dimensions of the problem of crime and misconduct, including crime and sexuality, crimes against the environment, crime and human rights and organizational deviance key debates in criminological theory the criminal justice system new areas such as the globalization of crime, and crime in cyberspace. Specially designed to be user-friendly, each chapter contains boxed material on current controversies, key thinkers and examples of crime and criminal justice around the world with statistical tables, maps, summaries, critical thinking questions, annotated references and a glossary of key terms, as well as further reading sections and additional resource information as weblinks.

The science of forensic entomology-the application of insect biology to the investigation of crime-is extremely specialized, combining as it does an expert knowledge of entomology with keen powers of observation and deduction. Dr. Erzinclioglu has been a practitioner for over twenty-five years and has been involved in a great number of investigations, including some recent high-profile cases, where his evidence has been critical to the outcome. A great admirerer of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Erzinclioglu compares his own techniques with those of his fictional hero, and takes the reader behind the often gruesome but deeply fascinating scenes of a murder investigation. This absorbing book ranges over cases from history, prehistory and mythology to the present day and is as gripping and readable as a good thriller.

"Glennys Howarth provides a cutting-edge, comprehensive discussion of the key topics in death and dying and in so doing demonstrates that the study of mortality is germane to all areas of sociology. The book is organized thematically, utilizing empirical material from cross-national and cross-cultural perspectives. It carefully addresses questions about social attitudes to mortality, the social nature of death and dying, and explanations for change and diversity, and explores traditional and contemporary experiences of death."--Jacket.

Evidence law is meant to facilitate trials that are fair, accurate, and efficient, and that encourage and protect important societal values and relationships. In pursuit of these often-conflicting goals, common law judges and modern drafting committees have had to perform as amateur applied psychologists. Their task has required them to employ what they think they know about the ability and motivations of witnesses to perceive, store, and retrieve information; about the effects of the litigation process on testimony and other evidence; and about our capacity to comprehend and evaluate evidence. These are the same phenomena that cognitive and social psychologists systematically study. The rules of evidence have evolved to restrain lawyers from using the most robust weapons of influence, and to direct judges to exclude certain categories of information, limit it, or instruct juries on how to think about it. Evidence law regulates the form of questions lawyers may ask, filters expert testimony, requires witnesses to take oaths, and aims to give lawyers and factfinders the tools they need to assess witnesses’ reliability. But without a thorough grounding in psychology, is the “common sense” of the rulemakers as they create these rules always, or even usually, correct? And when it is not, how can the rules be fixed? Addressed to those in both law and psychology, The Psychological Foundations of Evidence Law draws on the best current psychological research-based knowledge to identify and evaluate the choices implicit in the rules of evidence, and to suggest alternatives that psychology reveals as better for accomplishing the law’s goals.

Forensic science evidence and expert witness testimony play an increasingly prominent role in modern criminal proceedings. Science produces powerful evidence of criminal offending, but has also courted controversy and sometimes contributed towards miscarriages of justice. The twenty-six articles and essays reproduced in this volume explore the theoretical foundations of modern scientific proof and critically consider the practical issues to which expert evidence gives rise in contemporary criminal trials. The essays are prefaced by a substantial new introduction which provides an overview and incisive commentary contextualising the key debates. The volume begins by placing ?forensic science? in interdisciplinary focus, with contributions from historical, sociological, Science and Technology Studies (STS), philosophical and jurisprudential perspectives. This is followed by closer examination of the role of forensic science and other expert evidence in criminal proceedings, exposing enduring tensions and addressing recent controversies in the relationship between science and criminal law. A third set of contributions considers the practical challenges of interpreting and communicating forensic science evidence. This perennial battle continues to be fought at the intersection between the logic of scientific inference and the psychology of the fact-finder?s ?common sense? reasoning. Finally, the volume?s fourth group of essays evaluates the (limited) success of existing procedural reforms aimed at improving the reception of expert testimony in criminal adjudication, and considers future prospects for institutional renewal - with a keen eye to comparative law models and experiences, success stories and cautionary tales.

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