What is the CSI effect?
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You have probably seen at least one episode of Crime Scene Investigation (CSI).
After debuting in 2000, CSI ran for 15 seasons, spawned three spin-off series, and became one of the world’s most watched TV shows.
CSI is one of various “forensic dramas”. Other examples include NCIS and Bones. These series emphasise the power of scientific evidence such as DNA evidence to put criminals behind bars.
It wasn’t long before scientists and lawyers started to wonder about the influence of forensic dramas. Commentators started using the term “CSI effect” to refer to one or more of the supposed effects of watching these series.
One form of CSI effect proposes that forensic dramas glamorise a career in forensics. Growth in course offerings and student enrolments in forensics is often attributed to CSI.
Another form of CSI effect — what has been called the strong prosecutor’s effect — proposes that CSI viewers will demand more scientific evidence in the courtroom than non-CSI viewers. The concern is that a murderer could walk free because CSI-viewing jurors demand more scientific evidence than is necessary and wrongly deliver a not guilty verdict.
In a 2006 study, Donald Shelton and his colleagues set out to test the strong prosecutor’s effect. To do this, they surveyed more than 1000 people who had been called for jury duty in the US state of Michigan.
The researchers found that CSI viewers were somewhat more likely than non-CSI viewers to expect scientific evidence in particular types of cases, such as murder cases. But even non-CSI viewers had high expectations.
Forensic dramas may be a reflection of our appetite for scientific evidence in the courtroom rather than the cause of it.
The researchers also asked jurors for their verdicts in cases where no scientific evidence was available. There were no cases in which CSI viewers were more likely than non-CSI viewers to deliver a not guilty verdict.
Other studies have found similar results. Even if forensic dramas influence our expectations of scientific evidence in the courtroom, there is little reason to believe they are actually changing the decisions of juries.
On the charge of the strong prosecutor’s effect, forensic dramas have been found “not guilty”.
Response: Dr Jarrod Green, science writer
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