Forensic Science Misconceptions

The field of forensic science seems like a captivating world. It is known that forensic scientists assist law enforcement agencies by collecting and analyzing the evidence of a crime scene. Most of the time, this is all a person knows by watching television shows, such as “NCIS.” There are many misconceptions of a forensic scientist created by television shows. Sometimes these misconceptions make forensic science look glamorous. The issue is that this is how it happens on television and in reality, forensic scientist is mind-numbing and long workdays.
The Popular View Most people watch television shows for the entertainment purpose. The show “NCIS” has a forensic scientist named Abby Scuito. Abby is betrayed as the most active and affectionate person on the team. She dresses gothic and is seen in Halloween costumes (Perrette, 2016). The show betrays the image of the lab decorated in Abby’s choice of paintings and her favorite stuff animals. One episode, Abby is showed painting the walls in the lab. Abby’s lab has her team coming in and out throughout the show (Glasberg, 2016).
The teammates not only discuss the case, …show more content…
Forensic scientists do not just take the clothes of suspects or swap suspects in interrogation room. There are rules by courts what is acceptable forensic evidence. Also there are rules in how forensic evidence is collected (Bockstiegel, 2015, p. 282). On the other had, “NCIS” shows different ways of gathering evidence. An example is offering a suspect a drink and using the cup for DNA. It is not as simple as that. Another misconception is that forensic scientists do not do all the testing for one case. The forensic scientist rarely follows a case from start to finish. One other misconception is forensic scientists do not eat or drink and joke around with colleagues in the lab (Reavy, 2011, p. 1). There is no food or drinks while in the