Blood, Powder, and Residue (eBook)

How Crime Labs Translate Evidence into Proof

Beth A. Bechky (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2021
248 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-20585-4 (ISBN)

Infos

A rare behind-the-scenes look at the work of forensic scientistsThe findings of forensic science-from DNA profiles and chemical identifications of illegal drugs to comparisons of bullets, fingerprints, and shoeprints-are widely used in police investigations and courtroom proceedings. While we recognize the significance of this evidence for criminal justice, the actual work of forensic scientists is rarely examined and largely misunderstood. Blood, Powder, and Residue goes inside a metropolitan crime laboratory to shed light on the complex social forces that underlie the analysis of forensic evidence.Drawing on eighteen months of rigorous fieldwork in a crime lab of a major metro area, Beth Bechky tells the stories of the forensic scientists who struggle to deliver unbiased science while under intense pressure from adversarial lawyers, escalating standards of evidence, and critical public scrutiny. Bechky brings to life the daily challenges these scientists face, from the painstaking screening and testing of evidence to making communal decisions about writing up the lab report, all while worrying about attorneys asking them uninformed questions in court. She shows how the work of forensic scientists is fraught with the tensions of serving justice-constantly having to anticipate the expectations of the world of law and the assumptions of the public-while also staying true to their scientific ideals.Blood, Powder, and Residue offers a vivid and sometimes harrowing picture of the lives of highly trained experts tasked with translating their knowledge for others who depend on it to deliver justice.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 19.1.2021
• Zusatzinfo: 10 b/w illus.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Strafrecht ► Kriminologie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik
• Schlagworte: Accountability • Accounting • Accreditation • Adversarial System • Affidavit • americans • Analysis • Annie Dookhan • Antibiotics • Applied Science • Apprenticeship • assay • Bachelor's degree • Biology • biopsy • Biotechnology • Blood alcohol content • Bloodstain Pattern Analysis • Brandon Mayfield • burglary • Calculation • Capability (systems engineering) • Capillary electrophoresis • Career • chain of custody • chemical substance • chemist • climatology • Clinical urine tests • Cognitive skill • Cold Case • Comparison microscope • Computer • Controversy • copying • court of public opinion • Courtroom • credential • credibility • Crime • Crime Lab • Crime Scene • Crime scene investigation • criminal investigation • criminalist • criminal justice • Criminal Law • Criminal Procedure • Criticism • CSI • CSI Cyber • CSI Effect • CSI Las Vegas • CSI Miami • CSI New York • Database • Data Science • Decision-Making • Decomposition • defendant • designer drug • detection • Determination • Digital electronics • Direct examination • Disease • district attorney • distrust • DNA profiling • Doctor of Philosophy • Dye pack • electropherogram • ethnography • Evidence (Law) • Expert • Expertise • Expert witness • expert work • Explanation • felony • field research • Finding • fingerprint • firearm • Firearm (tool) • Fixation (histology) • forensic biology • Forensic Identification • Forensic Science • forensic sciences • Forensic toxicology • Fume hood • Funding • Gas Chromatography • Genetic Testing • glove • Goggles • grandparent • Gunshot residue • Hallucinogen • handkerchief • hashish • Health Care • hearsay • His Family • Hung jury • Impartiality • Indication (medicine) • Information Age • Institution • Integrated Ballistics Identification System • Intention (criminal law) • interaction • Ira Flatow • job performance • johnnie cochran • junk science • Jurisdiction • Jury • jury trial • Knowledge work • Knowledge Worker • Law enforcement • law enforcement agency • lawyer • layperson • Letter of reprimand • local police • machine learning • malpractice • Mass Spectrometry • master's degree • MDMA • Measurement • medical record • Methamphetamine • Methodology • microscope • Microscopy • Mixture • Mummy • narcotic • Necessity • Negotiation • obstacle • occupations • odor • Oncology • Opiate • organization • Organizational Theory • Organizations • participant observation • Paul DiMaggio • Peer Review • Phosphoric Acid • Physical Evidence • physical examination • Physician • plea • plea bargain • Police • Police Officer • Polymerase chain reaction • Procedural law • Processing (programming language) • Professional association • Professional liability insurance • Property room • Prosecutor • Pseudonym • Psilocybin • Psychology • Publication • Public Opinion • Public Science • pundit • quality control • Rape kit • raw data • reagent • Recommendation (European Union) • reproducibility • Requirement • result • Rimfire ammunition • risk assessment • Robbery • Saliva • Science • Science Friday • Science Studies • scientific community • Scientific Method • Scientific Working Group • Scientist • scrutiny • sedative • Semen • serial killer • Sexual assault • skepticism • Social Dynamics • Sociology • spreadsheet • Statistics • stimulant • Strategic Management • Subjectivity • subpoena • Supervisor • Suspect • Symptom • Tax law • Technological Change • Technology • test tube • Textbook • Theft • The Other Hand • The Various • Toxicology • trace evidence • Troubleshooting • Turnaround Time • Uncertainty • Urine • Vetting • Vinegar • Weapon • Western United States • Wet chemistry • white coat • Work–Life Balance • Work output • workplace • Worksheet • Writing • Ziploc
• ISBN-10: 0-691-20585-X / 069120585X
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-20585-4 / 9780691205854