Answer

The crime scene investigation (CSI) effect refers to the belief which has been held among many law enforcement officers as well as prosecutors that forensic television dramas involving CSI have the ability to influence American jurors and thus make them expect more forensic evidence to convict.[1] In my opinion, Hollywood has diverged from the reality regarding concepts of crime scene investigations, processing, and forensic sciences for a variety of reasons. One of the key ones is that Hollywood depicts crime scene investigators collecting and analyzing evidence and even interviewing suspects and solving crimes within a very short time (one hour) which is not realistic.[2] Additionally, television writers and producers in Hollywood do not make the characters live realistically in terms of time and funding constraints placed under actual forensic scientists. The factual elements of Hollywood are on the steps which are taken in CSI such as collecting evidence, analyzing it, interviewing suspects, and solving the crime. However, the short time as well as the ease with which the crimes are solved is utterly fictitious. As a result of the depictions of Hollywood on the aspects of CSI, I believe that most of the general public has come to expect too much from forensics and crime scene investigators based on Hollywood’s portrayal. In specific, they have come to expect crimes to be investigated and solved quickly which is unrealistic.[3] Hollywood’s fictitious treatment of forensics and CSI has harmed the disciplines of crime scene investigation, processing, and forensic sciences because it has made unrealistic depictions which are not possible in reality. Additionally, it has placed high expectations on the general public which cannot be attained in reality. However, it has helped the field to improve their efforts towards matching the expectations of the general public influenced by the television dramas.

[1] Amanda, Vicary, and Zaikman, Yuliana. “The CSI Effect: An Investigation into the Relationship between Watching Crime Shows and Forensic Knowledge.” North American Journal of Psychology 19, no. 1 (2017).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.